Update on Rutgers' Response to Proposed State Budget

March 7, 2008

Members of the Rutgers Community:

While the university still has not seen full details of the proposed state budget for fiscal year 2008–09, I wanted to update you on several items related to the budget.

As stated in my earlier communication, the governor’s proposal would cut Rutgers’ operating support by 11.6 percent, would provide for partial funding of salary increases, and would increase Tuition Aid Grants by $15 million statewide. While higher education is not alone in absorbing cuts during a fiscal emergency in New Jersey, this year’s reduction furthers a trend of decreasing state support for higher education. It would, in fact, be the lowest amount of state funding Rutgers has received in more than a decade.

This does not mean that the cuts are set in stone. Now that the governor has proposed a budget, the next step in the process is for both houses of the legislature to take up the proposal and formulate a budget bill. On Wednesday, March 12, beginning at 9:00 a.m. at the Rutgers Student Center on College Avenue in New Brunswick, the New Jersey Senate Budget Committee will hold its first hearing on the state budget.

Please know that the university leadership will continue communicating with the state’s leaders to press for additional funding. But this need not and should not be the only Rutgers response. I encourage anyone interested in advocating for restoration of the proposed higher education cuts both to attend the hearing on Wednesday and to write letters directly to the members of the senate and assembly budget committees. The Rutgers Department of Public Affairs’ website has information on the budget process, details on Wednesday’s hearing, and links to the budget committees.

While our advocacy will go on, Rutgers must prepare for whatever the outcome of the budget process will be. Executive Vice President Phil Furmanski will convene an informal committee to make recommendations about steps to absorb any funding cuts. We will do all we can to preserve the core missions and to minimize any disruptions to the university.

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