Message on FY2007 State Budget

July 9, 2006

Members of the Rutgers Community:

After months of discussion and debate, Governor Corzine signed the FY2007 state budget on July 8. Rutgers, originally facing a $99.8 million reduction in state support, had $33.7 million restored. Even with this restoration, Rutgers will face a significant shortfall, the largest in the university's history. While we currently are analyzing the impact of the budget reduction, it is evident that this will be very difficult for the university to absorb.

I am enormously grateful to all of you who called, visited, or sent some of the more than 90,000 email messages and letters that reached our state leaders in support of Rutgers and higher education. Your advocacy for Rutgers has made a difference and is deeply appreciated.

As further details become known in the coming days about the state budget's impact on Rutgers, we will update the budget web site at www.rutgers.edu/FY2007budget/. The next important decision regarding the university's budget will take place on July 14, when the Board of Governors finalizes the budget and sets tuition and fees for the 2006–07 academic year. I will update you on these matters after the board meeting.

Even with partial restoration of funding and a tuition increase, the university faces hard decisions. A committee chaired by Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Phil Furmanski has been seeking cost savings and efficiencies in existing programs, but it is certain that Rutgers will have to eliminate positions, lay off employees, cancel courses, and scale back programs and services across the university as a result of the state budget cuts. All vice presidents, deans, and department heads were asked to examine their budgets and model reductions. It is now clear that we will have to implement the most difficult choices that we were considering. We will do our best to lessen the impact on our students and protect our core missions of education and research, but a cut of this magnitude will require us to work even harder to maintain the high standards we expect at Rutgers.

As advocates for higher education, we must address the disturbing trend of reduced state funding. We must and will work to reverse that trend. At the same time, we must do all we can to maintain the quality of our institution. I will appoint a permanent Committee on Efficiency and Entrepreneurship at Rutgers, to be chaired by Senior Vice President for Administration and Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Apfel, that will seek to identify long-term cost savings and to increase revenues from research, executive and continuing education, and other revenue-generating activities. The university also will continue to aggressively pursue private, corporate, and foundation support for our students and programs.

Although this state budget will challenge Rutgers severely in the year ahead, we are keenly aware that our quest for support from the people of New Jersey is a long-term endeavor and we look to the future with determination and hope. We will continue to point with pride to the benefits of a strong higher education system that serves nearly 9 million state residents and functions as an indispensable engine for economic growth and social progress.

Richard L. McCormick
President
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey