Henry T. Yang

In the wake of this year’s state and UC budget cuts — and in anticipation of those for 2009-10 — the Coordinating Committee on Budget Strategy appointed last summer by Chancellor Henry T. Yang has established a set of campus budget reduction targets that range from 5-12%. Vice chancellors and deans will work with their divisions and departments to develop plans for implementing the targets.

“These are significant, and serious, reductions,” Yang said in a message to the campus last month. “We recognize how difficult this process will be. We ask that you approach this process with a spirit of community as we all work together to preserve what we have achieved in building UC Santa Barbara to what it is today.”

While the campus expected a cut of about $8.8 million in permanent budget funding last summer, the amount grew to $12 million in September and has now reached at least $16 million.

During the past six years, from 2002 to 2008, UCSB has experienced budget cuts every year except one. These cuts have left the campus extremely lean. State funding as a percentage of total campus annual expenditures has declined from 47.2 percent in 2001-02 to 35.6 percent in 2007-08.

“With this additional $16 million reduction, we are now facing an unprecedented budget crisis,” Yang said. To illustrate the magnitude of the current cut, he noted that $16 million is equivalent to the salaries and benefits of 160 faculty FTEs or 210 staff positions. It is $3.5 million more than the total supplies and equipment budget of the entire campus.

In spite of the budget reductions of recent years, UCSB has managed to maintain and make accessible a high-quality educational experience for increasingly qualified and motivated students.

The university also has expanded its research activities, furthered the international recognition of its outstanding faculty, and successfully raised a half-billion dollars in private support.

“In addition, we have made major improvements to the campus’s infrastructure,” Yang said. “These accomplishments are due in large part to the extraordinary efforts of every member of our campus community.

“We remain optimistic about our future,” he continued. “However, that future depends in part on our ability to respond to our budget challenges with vision and with careful, strategic decisions.