LSU Shreveport’s chancellor held a budget forum Monday to discuss what would happen if the university’s state appropriation would shrink by $1.2 million this fiscal year.
Chancellor Larry Clark said there’s little left to cut out of the budget. Ultimately, across-the-board furloughs would be necessary, he said, if the state levies a $131 million reduction to higher education in the five remaining months of the fiscal year.
Clark estimated staff would go down to a 37-hour work week. He fielded questions from students who are worried about the security of their majors and class offerings.
Clark called the hypothetical budget reduction a “silly scenario,” given a weekend to plan for it. However, the state is saddled with a $750 million mid-year deficit. Clark says he’ll work to protect students, but he hates that this early budget debate is out in the open.
“The scenario planning we’re doing is not unusual. But, doing it in a public way in which people don’t understand context has caused people to be prematurely concerned and hopefully concerned for something that just won’t happen,” Clark said, following the one-hour budget forum.
Dennis Henderson, LSU Shreveport student government association president, said he’s fearful of losing the caliber of faculty if proposed cuts are imposed.
“I know that this is just a scenario basis, but there are reasons why they have this so it doesn’t elevate to a panic mode when it does end up happening,” Henderson said. “It’s the idea of losing something that’s so great to this university, and that’s faculty and programs.”
The Shreveport-Bossier Business Alliance for Higher Education will hold an education summit Tuesday, Jan. 26, from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce.
The alliance announced the panel discussion will feature seven state lawmakers and five higher education leaders, including the commissioner of higher education Joseph Rallo.
The LSU system’s share of the reduction, $65 million, would cause the closure of hundreds of courses on the flagship campus because up to 10 percent of its faculty would be laid off. It released its impact to the cuts proposed by state lawmakers yesterday.LSU Shreveport budget forum piece
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