Committee recommends against many proposed UNL budget cuts

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Academic Planning Committee has come out in opposition to many of the university’s proposed program reductions.

UNL Chancellor Rodney Bennett on Friday released the recommendations of the APC, which largely don’t align with the $27.5 million in cuts he has proposed.

For example, the committee members only voted to endorse two of the six proposed program eliminations, that of textiles, merchandising and fashion design, and educational administration. The votes were relatively close, with 12 members voting for and nine against eliminating the textiles, merchandising and fashion design program, and 11 voting for and 10 against eliminating educational administration.

The commission voted resoundingly, 19-2, against eliminating community and regional planning, saying that the program plays a, “vital role … in supporting Nebraska’s rural communities and fulfilling statutory obligations related to infrastructure, environmental resilience, and public health."

Members also voted 19-2 against eliminating landscape architecture. The other votes were 13-8 against eliminating statistics and 11-9, with one abstention, against eliminating Earth and atmospheric sciences.

The commission showed more support for some of Bennett’s other proposed cuts.

It voted 21-0 in favor of merging the plant pathology and entomology programs, and 20-1 in favor of merging agricultural economics with agricultural leadership, education and communication.

However, the commission voted 11-9, with one abstention, against proposed budget cuts to the colleges of engineering and arts and sciences, and it had a tie vote of 7-7, with 7 abstentions against putting the schools of music and theater and film under one director.

In comments accompanying its analysis, the APC was critical of the metrics used as well as the timeline, saying the short window for the proposed cuts to be made does not offer enough time for alternatives to be formulated. It also said the plan failed to take into account input from faculty.

Because of those and other factors, the committee said the proposed cuts should be delayed.

It’s not clear how much weight the committee’s recommendations will hold with Bennett, who has cited the need to make cuts quickly.

In an email Friday to faculty and staff, he said he was “grateful” for the APC’s work.

“I am now carefully reviewing the APC’s recommendations and continuing consultations with our shared governance partners before finalizing the budget reduction plan,” Bennett said in the email. “I expect to complete this work in the coming weeks and will share the final plan with the campus community once it is ready.”

Barring any delays, the University of Nebraska’s Board of Regents is expected to vote on the proposed cuts at its December meeting.

The university’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors said in a news release that it “stands in solidarity” with the APC’s recommendations, and it urged Bennett, NU President Dr. Jeffrey Gold and the Board of Regents “to delay all action involving UNL budget cuts until it engages in a more thorough, transparent, and collaborative process that involves UNL faculty, students, academic units and administrators.”

“To do otherwise contradicts the primary land-grant mission of the university to make teaching and instruction its priority for the betterment and service of all Nebraskans,” the release said.