Team provides budget suggestions

The President’s Special Advisory Team completed its Fiscal Year 12 budget recommendations.

President Schmidly initially charged the PSAT last spring to identify about $3 million in cost containment or revenue generation for the FY 11 budget.

The team did just that, said Carolyn Thompson, office of the president and PSAT member.

“Over the summer, we realized our financial woes were not over and were re-commissioned for the fall to come together,” she said. “We have picked a lot of low hanging fruit, but we may be facing $21 million further permanent reduction come FY 12.”

During the first phase of its work together, PSAT identified nearly $6 million of potential short-term savings for FY11.
Undergraduate student and PSAT member Jake Wellman said recommendations involved substantial research.

“The recommendations were more of fact-finding and providing additional information on proposals from other groups,” he said. “They highlight the impact the proposed measures would have. It is research that will be helpful in decision making down the road.”

UNM spokeswoman Susan McKinsey said the PSAT is one of several groups commissioned to assist in cost containment.

“Helping to come up with the FY 2011/12, they are going to look at the recommendations of all contributors and then the president will pick the best of the recommendations,” she said. “They need to be viable for trying to get something done short term.”

Thompson said input from faculty senate, student government, staff council and vice presidents will be taken into consideration, and the Board of Regents will have final approval of all proposals.

“It will be interesting to see if groups working independently came to the same conclusions,” she said.

The team’s recommendations are divided between implementation for fiscal year 2012 and recommendations for activity in FY12 to prepare for the future. Within the recommendations document, the PSAT identified means to generate funds of about $14 million.

The PSAT was aware of maintaining due diligence, Thompson said, and reduction consequences were deliberated. She said recommendations from the other presidential consultants will be posted online as they are finished.

“The PSAT happened to be the first, so that is why you see our document online already,” she said. “Other recommendations from groups that the provost has pulled together, as well as from the deans, will be forthcoming.”