As the University braces for potential cuts in state appropriations, Mark Emmert reassured the University Senate on Monday that the administration will conduct an "open and fair budgetary process."

"I have tried my darndest that the overall budget plans are talked about openly," said Emmert, chancellor and provost for University affairs. "Should the budget reductions occur, we will not make across-the-board cuts. As we think about specific cuts, we must think about it in a broader context," relying on the strategic plan to determine what programs to focus on.

Important steps developed under the 1995 budget-balancing plan are on target "to eliminate a very dramatic budget shortfall," Emmert said.

The plan calls for the elimination of $11.6 million in personnel costs over four years, among other goals. Since January 1991, the University has reduced total positions by 601, he said. The University's structural deficit will have been reduced to $6.5 million from $15 million by next fiscal year.

Emmert also shared with Senate members figures the administration has used to allay legislators' concerns about administrative salaries. Only 2.6 percent of UConn personnel are identified as managers under federal guidelines. Administrative salaries make up 3.9 percent of total personnel costs, or $9.6 million, he said.

"It does not, in fact, portray a mass infusion of money for administration," Emmert said. Program assessment
Emmert outlined to the Senate the schedule for program assessment, a strategic planning process to "allocate and develop resources on the basis of mission value and performance." The process is intended to evaluate program quality and needs, identify targets and opportunities for program development and improvement, and guide the allocation of resources.

The timetable, identifying the semester during which schools and departments will go through a self-study process, is as follows:

• Spring: School of Education, history, modern and classical languages, economics, chemistry, Environmental Research Institute, Precision Manufacturing Institute.
  
  
• Fall 1997: School of Nursing, music, School of Social Work, urban studies, physics, Photonics Research Center, dramatic arts.
  
  
• Spring 1998: School of Allied Health, agricultural and resource economics, philosophy, molecular and cell biology, operations and information management, computer science and engineering.
  
  
• Fall 1998: natural resource management and engineering, political science, psychology, physiology and neurobiology, journalism, mathematics, women's studies.
  
  
• Spring 1999: School of Pharmacy, pathobiology, accounting, marine sciences, linguistics, anthropology.
  
  
• Fall 1999: animal sciences, finance, sociology, English, communication sciences.
  
  
• Spring 2000: School of Family Studies, international studies, plant science, management, ecology and evolutionary biology, statistics, art and art history.
  
  
• Fall 2000: nutritional science, marketing, Connecticut Information Technology Institute, geology, geography, communication sciences.
  
  
• Spring 2001: Cooperative Extension, School of Education.
  
  

• Fall 2001: School of Law.
  
  

• Spring 2002: electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, civil and environmental engineering, chemical engineering, metallurgy, Institute of Material Sciences, biomedical engineering, environmental engineering, management and engineering for manufacturing, Transportation Institute.

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