Campus plans for cuts under new state budget
All units face reduced funding; some reductions are permanent

19 September 2002 | After a summer of waiting for the state budget to be approved, the campus now has a much clearer sense of its 2002-03 state funding picture and a plan for where cuts in operations need to be made, said Chancellor Robert Berdahl
The budget was signed by Gov. Gray Davis on Sept. 5. It allocates $3.2 billion to the University of California system, 3 percent less than last year’s allocation. In addition, the state spending plan for 2002-03 calls for the governor to trim an additional $750 million in state expenditures. It is not known how or even whether that cut will affect UC.

“There is reason for caution and concern, but I don’t think we are facing a catastrophe or that we should be unduly gloomy,” said Berdahl. “Paul Gray and I have been working hard on the issue. We are hopeful that we can cushion the impact on individual units,” said the chancellor.

The final state budget protects the core instructional program at UC campuses, provides funding for enrollment growth, and allocates funding for a 1.5-percent merit increase for eligible faculty and staff.

At Berkeley, the campus is preparing for a one-time 5-percent cut to state-funded operations and an on-going 10-percent cut in state-funded research programs. In addition the legislature has scaled back UC’s K-12 outreach programs and made a one-time reduction in funding for deferred maintenance, libraries, and instructional technology.

Looking ahead, Berdahl said that unless the state’s economy “turns around dramatically and quickly, it looks like we could be in for constrained budgets for the near future.”