In light of the Commonwealth’s recent drop in revenues—more than 30 percent this spring compared to last year—the University will likely need to cut as much as another $19 million from its budget, according to an e-mail from President John Casteen to the University community this morning.
Casteen said the University would like to avoid layoffs as much as possible and plans to do that by continuing to avoid new hires, identifying “non-core services” that can be eliminated, and by deferring “discretionary spending” like non-essential travel for meetings when a conference call would suffice.
“We must both (1) redouble efforts to attract non-state revenue to support current activities and (2) curtail spending in every possible way, including wherever possible eliminating expenditures planned for the current year,” he said.
Casteen also said that tuition will continue to rise for all students in order to help supplement funds, but that financial aid will remain a priority.
These tuition increases, however, are only one source of the University’s funds, which come from a variety of resources, Casteen said. The diversity of the University’s cashflow from the state and gifts among others will help to lessen the blow of the necessary cutbacks, he said.
At this time, Casteen said he and UVA officials are meeting to deal with the recent cuts and are seeking funds to sustain the “core functions” of each school and departmental budget.