UM navigates budget barriers: Student access to quality education is a main priority - NIKKI KRAWITZ, Columbia Tribune

The most recent report for the fiscal year ending in June lists $66 million in cost savings, including budget and work force reductions and academic program consolidation. This doesn’t include two actions taken after June 30 that will generate considerable cost savings in the future: employee contributions to their retirement funds and the use of Build America Bonds to finance critical building projects. In addition to cost reductions, revenue enhancement generated $27 million from unprecedented enrollment growth, recovery of overhead costs and entrepreneurial activities. Contrary to the assertion that “reallocation will be avoided most diligently,” our online reports show our campuses have continuously performed strategic reallocation. This year alone, $7.1 million was reallocated from lower priorities — in part to address ranked faculty salaries, which on average are in the lowest quintile of peer institutions, and in part to higher-priority programs and services. This means faculty positions in certain academic programs were eliminated, and the savings then funded salary increases and new positions aligned with our strategic priorities.