President David J. Schmidly met Friday with university deans, senior administrators, faculty representatives and branch directors for the first of a series of discussions focused on how the university will manage its latest round of budget cuts as well as anticipated future cuts.

The latest statewide budget projections figure public institutions, including higher ed and public schools, will face budget cuts of approximately 3.2 percent that will begin to go into effect Sept. 1. For UNM, this will mean an additional $5.9 million in recurring cuts to main campus, $2.9 million to the HSC and $611,000 to the branches.

It is widely anticipated that even more severe cuts will take place in the upcoming FY 2012 budget. Schmidly notes that the current 3.2 percent cut plus the anticipated cuts next fiscal year could very well equal the nearly $26 million state budget reduction the university has already endured to date.

It was the consensus at Friday's meeting that the current round of cuts can best be managed individually by the schools, colleges and units – giving each maximum flexibility to develop and utilize a combination of cost-cutting and revenue-generating strategies.

It is the University's intention to not cut any classes at the present time. By the end of the fall semester, UNM will have a plan in place to deal with the future cuts, which could require major changes to the University as it adjusts to a different sized budget.

Jim Linnell, dean, College of Fine Arts, stressed that the university has already endured cuts of nearly $26 million, "and has managed to maintain its academic quality. It is our intent for that to continue."

Media contact: Susan McKinsey, (505) 277-1807; cell, (505) 362-5530; e-mail: mckinsey@unm.edu