The Strategic Planning and Budgeting Advisory Committee on Thursday began its review of the budget-reduction proposals that have moved forward from the five university divisions. President Fritz Erickson guided committee members through the current list of proposals, which would meet the university’s overall reduction target of $3 million.

“It’s important to remember that this is the first draft set of ideas,” Erickson said. “I’ve worked on it, the VPs have worked on it and many have looked at it. We’re open to feedback. If there are other well-conceived ideas, it’s important to bring them forward. There may be modifications, but we can’t get around the need to implement reductions because we are projecting a 6 percent enrollment decline. It’s always unnerving because there’s nothing on this list that’s not good in some way. We’ve long since passed the point of saying, ‘Well, that’s agreed we shouldn’t do it.’ We have to make some difficult decisions.”

There are a few proposals on the list of “unknown” value that weren’t factored into the $3 million total. One is an academic viability review process that would begin with the following: programs three years old or older that have a three-year average of 20 or fewer majors for undergraduate programs or 10 for graduate programs; and programs with a three-year percentage decrease twice as large as the university’s overall enrollment decline percentage during the same period.

“There are a lot of caveats that go with that,” Erickson said. “One is the idea that if it’s a new program, you need to give them time to fully develop. Many programs have the opportunity to be combined with similar programs or perhaps two majors within a department that have smaller numbers could be reconstructed into one.”

Erickson stressed that universities engaging in this process should not make decisions based solely on the number of students because there are extenuating variables to consider behind each number. For example, eliminating some programs with relatively few majors wouldn’t necessarily save money if they include general education classes because the faculty and operational expenses would remain consistent.

Erickson said he created the 45-member committee last spring to promote more shared decision-making. Leslie Warren, dean of Academic Information Services, and Brent Graves, biology faculty member and president of AAUP, are the co-chairs. 

The committee’s next meeting, which is open to the NMU community, is scheduled from 3-5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 7, in the Cadillac/Brule Rooms of the University Center. The committee must finalize its recommendations in advance of the Sept. 22-23 Board of Trustees meeting. 

To see the full first draft of budget-reduction proposals, click here. Any feedback should be directed to Cindy Paavola at cipaavol@nmu.edu.