SEMO considers restructuring to cut its costs

Southeast Missouri State University will hold four public forums over the next three weeks to discuss possible restructuring moves designed to slash over half a million dollars in spending to deal with state funding cuts.

School employees including faculty will have a chance to offer comments and suggestions at the meetings. Students also are welcome to attend, school officials said.

The first meeting will be at noon Wednesday in the University Center Party Room. Meetings also will be held on Sept. 4, 9 and 13 at the University Center.

Dr. Ken Dobbins, Southeast president, plans to meet with his top administrators and the school's Budget Review Committee before disclosing his budget-cutting plan in a noon presentation Sept. 25 in the University Center Ballroom.

"I think it is important that we have input," Dobbins said. The university, he said, will look at ways to be more efficient.

That's a good goal, he said, although "I wish we didn't have to do it based on budget cuts."

The Board of Regents is expected to consider the cost-saving moves at its Oct. 18 meeting. The plan could include some cuts in positions, leaving some employees out of jobs at the end of the fall semester, school officials said.

Burdened with state funding cuts, the regents in June declared a financial emergency at the school and raised student fees by another $6 per credit hour on top of an earlier double-digit tuition increase. The regents also approved sweeping budget cuts that included deferring equipment purchases and building repairs.

Ten positions have been eliminated -- mostly through attrition -- and school officials predict as many as 18 more may be eliminated in restructuring moves this fall.

Consolidation possible

Art Wallhausen, associate to the university president, said the school is looking at possible reorganization and consolidation of academic departments that could include eliminating one or more dean positions, as well as department heads and clerical jobs.

The university administration, he said, doesn't want to fire tenured faculty even though the declaration of a financial emergency would allow it.

Wallhausen said faculty jobs could be at stake if state funding woes continue and academic programs are eliminated. But he said the university ultimately will have to hire more faculty if enrollment continues to grow at Southeast. This fall's enrollment could be the largest the university has ever had.

The university is looking to use its teachers more effectively, Wallhausen said. The university has cut back faculty assignments in academic centers and on administrative duties so teachers can spend more time in the classroom.

"We are trying to be very sensitive to the needs of people who may be displaced by restructuring," Wallhausen said.

People whose jobs are eliminated will be considered for other campus jobs that become available within a three-month period, he said.

Southeast had to cope with $7 million in state funding cuts last year. The university is scheduled to receive $43.9 million in state funding this year, but school officials worry about the possibility of future withholdings that could lessen already tight funding.

The estimated $500,000 in savings from restructuring efforts is part of the university's overall plan to come up with an added $5 million from student fees and cost-cutting moves to balance the budget, replenish the rainy day fund and provide a financial buffer in the event of more state funding cuts, Wallhausen said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123