Office of the President
Monday Morning Memo
November 17, 2008
Dear NMSU Community:
Good morning! Our wonderful Aggie volleyball team continues to make us proud with their determination and drive, capturing the first-ever volleyball WAC championship on Saturday. Fantastic! Now, it's on to the WAC tournament. Go Aggies!
Last week we paused to recall the tremendous sacrifices our veterans have made for their country. We take time each year to reflect on their commitment to ensuring our security, here and abroad. Many NMSU faculty, staff and students have served our country and we thank them all.
Today, let's talk about the current economic situation. The State of New Mexico is projecting a budgetary revenue shortfall in the current fiscal year, related primarily to a decline in the price of oil and natural gas. We anticipate that this will translate into reduced state funding for higher education in the upcoming year, and may impact the current fiscal year.
NMSU as a system receives 37 percent of our total operating budget from state appropriations; if restricted gifts, grants and contracts are removed, 57 percent of our unrestricted funding comes from state appropriations. A reduction in state funding can potentially impact all facets of operations at NMSU: Instruction and General (I&G) positions and operating budgets, state research and public service projects, and capital projects. We therefore take any predicted contraction of state funding very seriously. We do not, however, want to depart from a conservative and methodical approach to preparing for a projected downturn: we will develop different models of detailed cost reduction plans and will be fully prepared once the magnitude of any proposed state funding reduction is estimated.
The State Legislature will receive updated revenue projections in December, in preparation for the legislative session that will begin in January 2009. NMSU has elected to delay its normal internal budgetary cycle until after the start of the session in 2009, to ensure that we do not plan a budget based upon previously calculated state appropriations that may not be fully funded. We will continue with the cycle of asking units to submit requests for new operating, equipment and building renewal and replacement funds, but will delay any advance awarding of funds for FY2009-10 until receipt of those funds is assured by the state.
It is however not too soon to look at opportunities for cost curtailment that will not directly impact NMSU's core mission of instruction, research and public service, with an emphasis on service to our students. A Sustainability Task Force currently exists within NMSU, led by Dr. Steve Loring, Assistant Director of the Agricultural Experimental Station. A number of across-the-board savings measures are being currently explored by this Task Force; additional measures can be considered, including:
- Direct that all copy machines and printers operate on a duplex setting unless a special circumstance exists requiring single page copying or printing.
- Remind employees to turn off lights in unused offices and unplug major appliances at the end of each day.
- Examine travel requests to see if less expensive methods may be employed, such as teleconferencing; disallow instances where multiple state-owned vehicles are being used by employees to travel to the same destination.
- Adjust vehicle procurement policy to disallow the purchase of inefficient vehicles, i.e., large pickup trucks, eight cylinder passenger vehicles, large sedans, etc. Exceptions to this policy would only be allowed through central approval.
- Review the use of state-owned vehicles for commuting to and from work and ensure that they are only used for mission-critical commuting.
- Increase the use of procurement cards and electronic banking.
NMSU is in a comparatively strong financial position in the state. Record enrollment growth and improvements in retention have resulted in NMSU qualifying for additional state appropriations, which will help to buffer any cuts in funding and the concurrent need to raise tuition. We are committed to remaining focused on our mission and on our students, faculty and staff: through teamwork and fiscal prudence we believe that we can come through any funding contraction without compromising what makes NMSU a great university.
Have a great week.
Waded Cruzado
