UCSD will face more financial hurdles
Teaching mission vulnerable to cuts
SUNDAY, APRIL 25, 2010 AT 2:24 A.M.
JOHN GASTALDO / UNION-TRIBUNE
Jeff Skinner (left) and professor Bill Hodgkiss, both of Scripps Institution of Oceanography, discuss a project. Research often has sources other than the state for funding.
LA JOLLA — When UCSD leaders describe the effects of losing $85 million in state funding this year, they mention widespread furloughs, hundreds of layoffs and a freeze on faculty hiring.
What’s at stake is the university’s ability to continue providing a quality education and graduating enough students on time.
“The budget crisis has been very serious,” said Gary Matthews, vice chancellor for resource management and planning. “Forty years ago, we were getting close to 40 percent of our budget from the state. We’re now down to almost less than 10 percent.”
When viewed against the backdrop of the school’s total staffing and budget, though, the campus seems to have avoided significant downsizing.
The 310 laid-off employees represent about 1 percent of the work force at theUniversity of California San Diego. Many professors have used an infusion of more than $130 million in federal stimulus money — in the form of research grants — to buy out their furloughs. Overall, most of the state budget cut has been offset by an internal $43 million loan and a 32