Hard times may be coming to The University of Texas at Austin, based on projected spending cuts from the Legislature.
UT President Bill Powers told the campus that budget items in both the House and Senate versions of the 2012-2013 biennial budget cut funding to the school by $100 million. Since 2009, UT has cut $14.5 million from its budget in response to state mandates, with the cuts primarily made to administrative operations. Powers is scheduled to testify before the Senate Finance Ccommittee about higher education spending March 2.
"Budget cuts on this scale could have significant and negative impact on teaching and research at UT," said Powers in an email to students, faculty, staff and alumni this afternoon.
The UT president, along with Texas A&M President Bowen Loftkin, recently traveled the state and met with alumni and elected officials to emphasize the importance of Tier 1 research universities to the future of Texas.
President Powers says UT's priorities for this legislature include no disproportionate cuts to public higher education, support for the Texas Competitive Knowledge fund (which provides $1 for every $10 in external research support earned annually by UT and A&M), and support for a tuition revenue bond for UT's Engineering Education and Research Center.
Power's said he will continue to monitor the session and continue to convey the importance of UT's contribution to the State of Texas.
