Bare-bones budget scenarios in Austin augur as many as 800 layoffs across Texas Tech’s three-school system, according to the first estimates presented Thursday to the university’s governing board.
Tech’s Board of Regents heard the sobering outlook from administrators who reminded the board these early estimates reflect a worst-case scenario based on state higher education cuts proposed by the Texas House, where lawmakers face a tax revenue shortfall of as much as $30 billion.
A budget floated by the Texas Senate offers Tech and other state universities a slight reprieve that would reduce the system’s job loss to roughly 475.
The 800 layoffs expected from the House budget would equate to slightly more than 4 percent of the Tech system’s 18,000-plus employees.
“None of this is final yet, so we will be presenting extremes,” Jim Brunjes, the system’s chief financial officer, told the board.
Tech officials said more accurate numbers will only follow this summer’s passage of a budget now being reconciled between the two chambers.
Altogether, the system stands to lose $100 million in the current fiscal crunch, according to Tech Chancellor Kent Hance.
During his overview of Tech’s money woes, a regent noted a lack of black numbers shown in a slide presentation.
“All the black ink is gone,” Hance replied. “It’s all red, which is the color of blood.”
Administrators calculated their layoff estimates by plugging likely financial reductions yoked to the next biennium’s budget into each institution and equating those dollars to salaries, so they fail to reflect wiggle room afforded through non-personnel cuts.
Expected tuition increases of up to 6 percent and enrollment growth could also cushion Austin’s hatchet blow.
“We’d be in deep trouble if we didn’t have growth in enrollment,” Hance told the board.
The chancellor said he expects actual systemwide layoffs to range from 200 to 400 employees.
Many of the layoffs would occur at Tech’s flagship campus in Lubbock, where the worst-case window ranges anywhere from 187 lost jobs from the Senate budget to 243 from the House version. These estimates include the roughly 105 positions already cut or frozen in an early round of belt-tightening that siphoned some $16 million from school coffers.
“We plan for the worst and hope for the best,” said Tech President Guy Bailey, “and usually it comes out in between.”
He said “a lot of the hard decisions have already been made” through recent administrative realignments, closures and near-universal hiring freezes.
Further cuts will first target personnel on the furthest periphery of academics and direct student support services. The goal, Bailey said, is to shield the university from any measures that would “impede the timely graduation of students.”
At a time of successive record enrollments, that means Bailey hopes to retain as many faculty, advisers and other retention-related jobs as possible.
System administrative offices — whose funding is zeroed out in the House budget — also expect to cut as many as 37 jobs.
Across the freeway and elsewhere throughout the region, estimates for the hardest blow to Tech’s Health Sciences Center put layoff estimates between 436 and 508.
Angelo State University could cut between 22 and 28 people.
Any layoffs at the three schools would likely begin at the start of the next fiscal year in September.
Board committees also approved a variety of other measures that today will go to the full board for final approval, which is all but guaranteed:
n Tuition and fee increases for students at each of the HSC’s member schools. The average student can expect tuition to increase by about 7 percent.
n Switching faculty/staff parking permits to a tagless license plate identification system
n Increases of Tech parking fees by up to $3.88/month for students and $1/month for faculty. Revenue is slated to pay for more campus parking.
n An early agreement to consider opening a nursing school satellite campus in Abilene.
n Agreement with RaiderPark to lease game-day and student parking at the company’s private parking garage adjacent to Jones AT&T Stadium.
n Creation of a conservation law enforcement degree program in Tech’s College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources.
To comment on this story:
matthew.mcgowan@lubbockonline.com 766-8724
leesha.faulkner@lubbockonline.com 766-8706
Comments (41)
Add commentLay offs
C'mon, Hance! Let's see you and your cronies take a pay cut rather than cutting the throat of the lower paid flunkies (like me) on campus. I dare you! I know you and yours won't, but stil....I dare you.
Those high salaries
Do this web address. You have to put the 3 w's in front of the following address to get the full list of Tech employees and their salaries....
texastribune.org/library/data/government-employee-salaries/texas-tech-university/
The AJ doesn't like the posting of links.
Whew!
I had no idea the head coach/athletic director at TTU earns $1,500,000 per year! That's ridiculous. I notice that the top salary earners in that list are all in the athletic departments -- more even than academic administrators. I thought public universities were/are for EDUCATION.
Priorities
The salary structure just goes to show where the priorities are; supporting an athletic program which consistently runs in the red. I belive that the football coach just got a pay raise for doing nothing but being here. The TTU system is top-heavy in high level administrative positions and few of those will be touched; as has already happened a position may be eliminated by the occupant will just be moved to another position at the same salary. Hance is a politician and just like his bretheren he can only make minimal cuts where they really punish people but can't control spending.
Its catching up to TT!
Ha ha, that's ok, just raise the ticket prices of the season tickets for football! Oh and charge way more for parking while your at it. That's the answer to everything! Hmm, I wonder why, for the very first time, that the athletic department has been calling previous loyal season ticket holders and trying to get them back? Could it be they are not selling them like they used to because they are bloated and overpriced? It's a simple formula. Lower prices, stimulate sales! That goes for football tickets and tuition. Imagine that! With more students comes more revenue, maybe no one would lose their jobs.
@BTX
On this subject we definitely agree. What were meant to be institutions of higher education have become little better than high priced sports collectives.
We build megabucks worth of sports facilities that are used only a few times a year, and pay coaches more than the President of the United States makes ---and we lay off teachers.
We seem to have contracted a bad case of inverted priorities. Our graduates may not be adequately prepared to enter the world of high tech and industry ---but they'll know how to play ball and drink beer, by golly!
Actually adunn...
... they'll know how to drink beer and watch other people play ball.
Job Cuts
I would suggest that Tech start cutting at the top of the administration. Think about it...when they announce they're cutting 800 jobs, you know for sure that they are at the bottom of the food chain. If it was administrative, they would only have to cut 200 jobs. :)
Just sayin'...
@adunn & btx
I went through the list. Median salary is $16,609 so those several hundred top earners probably represent about 30% of the gross payroll, yet only about 5% of the total staff. Talk about skewed -- this whole situation reeks of pigs hogging out at the public trough. Maybe the old adage of what happens to pigs when they become hogs may come to pass.
Also, note the hard sciences' top salaries (math, engineering, etc,) are in the 150-160K range, yet Law is up at $291,000 (what Loewy does to deserve that is beyond me) and Business at $276K. You can see where this country's priorities are and why we are fast losing ground in "making" stuff. In 20 years we may be a nation of lawyers suing everything that moves, financial traders betting on exotic derivatives and peons serving them hamburgers.
@SpareTire
You are entirely correct, Sir. I humbly beg pardon.
@RK Miller
The outlook is indeed bleak, for a nation that once led the world in every sort of endeavor that was worth undertaking.
What many don't realize is
What many don't realize is that most of the lower salaries are those of graduate students and research assistants who work part-time.
Athletics
Supports itself. Very little Public money is used for those positions as they are mostly funded by private donations and athletics revenues.
Law/Business professors are paid market rates to attract talent. Thats how the market works people.
Higher Up salaries
Compare the top positions, like the athletic directors and hance and bailey to those of other school in the state, and youll see they are paid less. However these salaries have to be competitive to attract qualified personnel.
How easy many forget that, and somehow manage to think that just anyone can do those jobs.
@Temblor10
The athletic department has started calling previous ticket holders after the previous marketing people were replaced with...more effective people. Every school should do this, and as shown by record number of season ticket sales last season, it works.
Okay, so athletics
Those POSITIONS are "mostly funded by private donations" -- what about the athletes? I understand that athletes are not allowed to be paid if they keep their amateur status. That means that what THEY "earn" are room, board, and tuition. THEY take all of the physical risks, and IF they happen to be one of the top talented ones, they MAY get a chance at the pros; otherwise, IF they are able to complete their educations, they are no further ahead than if they had never received a scholarship. Somehow, there seems to be quite a gap between $1,500,000 and the $30,000 or $40,000 equivalent that the athletes receive.
No further ahead?
They receive a free education, including rooming, meals, books and tuition for 5 years.
How is that not further ahead of your average student who graduates 30-50k in debt?
Also, many simply Enjoy playing their sport for fun, and get to go to school for doing it, while preparing them for their career.
Taylor Potts is a great example, will more than likely be off to med school this fall. On the opposite end, Baron Batch, was actually drafted. But if that does not work out for some reason, he is well prepared for the real world in his career of choice.
1,500,000
If you are referring to the coaches salary compared to the non professional athlete salary, then i suggest you look at the market rate for good coaches. Mack Brown at Texas makes more than triple that, at just over 5.1 million per year.
That is the market demand for good coaches. They are essentially the CEO of a multi million dollar company and should be compensated appropriately. If you feel this is a violation of what a college should be, thats your own issue, but the market disagrees and that is what determines value.
Pro tip 70sguy
Tier 1 is based on research spending, of course they have to "buy it". Also would you care to provide evidence of illegal pocket lining?
@Agallion
"Athletics supports itself. Very little Public money is used for those positions as they are mostly funded by private donations and athletics revenues."
Is that so?? Where's your proof? I'd like to see the audited internal P&L statements to support your proposition. Examining TTU's financial reports (http://www.irim.ttu.edu/Reports/StateReports/SYSTEM/AFR.php) tell you nothing as the revenues and expenditures are lumped indiscriminately, e.g.. expenditures for "Academic Support". There is no discrete breakout of revenues from private donations specifically given for athletics or revenues from ticket sales, TV, etc. and no breakout of what the university spends on athletics. I'm sure TTU has its internal balance sheets and P&L statements for the Athletic Department, but do you think they would share that with the public? Unless you can somehow show me real numbers supporting your assertion, please don't keep repeating this as a "fact".
"They receive a free education, including rooming, meals, books
-- and tuition for 5 years."
FREE? I don't think so. I had two cousins who started out at North Texas on football scholarships. They spent so much time with athletics that they felt they were shirking their classes. Since both had worked through high school in an auto body shop, they figured that they could work their way through college doing that kind of work and have more time for studies. They gave up their football scholarship and worked as auto repairmen and apparisers and graduated on time -- with no injuries.
Btx
Sounds like a single problem of North Texas, Not Texas Tech, or other major conference school with large amounts of resources.
RK, we have heard multiple times from tech officials that exact statement,in fact, recently on 104.3 Bailey was referring to the new Fox contract for the b12, and he mentioned that he expects the athletic department to be completely self sufficient with that additional money. Previously the athletic department was give roughly 1.5 - 3 million dollars to fund other parts of the AD.
If you want to wear a tin foil hat, have at it, otherwise you have no reason not to believe public statements concerning financials.
Not to mention
There are plenty of figures on usa today and espn that outline each schools athletic revenue and expenditures.
In fact, here you can see an EXACT breakdown.
http://www2.indystar.com/NCAA_financial_reports/revenue_stat/show
rk
"...we are fast losing ground in 'making' stuff."
So cynical, sir! I don't know of any country that makes more Snuggies and boner pills than the good ol' US of A.
Making stuff
It has been a long time since the US had a manufacturing economy. The US is now a service economy, like most western countries. These economies place a value on education, and thus those more educated are rewarded. Blue collar type jobs in the US will continue to be eliminated (but only to a point).
Back to the subject
Forget about Athletics and focus on the 240-800 people that will lose their jobs because our legislature and gov decided to continue tax breaks for businesses. The revenue shortfall was engineered five years ago and at that time the comptroller predicted that we would have a shortfall of about 5.2 billion a year. 5.2 times 5 equals 26 billion. More should be done to create revenue. Making it all about cuts is wrong. Looking at the median pay more than half of TTU's employees are well beneath the Low-income threshold. .
the low-income ones are more
the low-income ones are more than likely part time employees. Meaning students.
Read my lips-no new teachers.
Read my lips-no new teachers.
Good news here, so NOW we need EDUCATED workers....
It is NOT the time to cut education in any form!
Excerpt:
Read more:
Locomotive manufacturing in Fort Worth
Good news here, so NOW we need EDUCATED workers....
It is NOT the time to cut education in any form!
Excerpt:
Read more: <---.kiplinger.com/columns/dekaser-practical-economics/archives/us-and-china-the-end-of-outsourcing.html#ixzz1MFzaWmA5>
Locomotive manufacturing in Fort Worth
<---.star-telegram.com/2011/05/12/3070621/ge-to-build-locomotives-in-north.html>