University of Iowa faculty brace for more cuts

Faculty want a seat at the table as University of Iowa leaders face a possible midyear reversion of millions of dollars, faculty leaders said Tuesday.

The state's Revenue Estimating Conference Wednesday will revise its fiscal 2010 tax receipt projections downward, which is expected to trigger a midyear budget reversion.

UI Faculty Council members Tuesday said it's a tense time as faculty and staff brace for more cuts. Every 1 percent from the UI budget equals about $2.35 million.

There is speculation the reversion could be more than 5 percent, UI Faculty Senate President David Drake said.

“You're talking upward of $17 million. That's painful,” he said. “What are faculty opinions? What do we value?”

History professor Jeff Cox said perhaps it's time to push the idea of a general tax increase to cushion the expected budget cliff for Iowa's regent universities.

“It's time for people who care about education to start raising this issue,” he said.

Also at the meeting, faculty heard an update about work of the Partnership for Alcohol Safety, a joint effort between UI, city and business leaders.

There is hope this initiative will succeed where past programs have not because it's a strong joint partnership with the city, faculty leaders said.

New initiatives include required alcohol skills training for all UI Greek chapters, and mandatory online health assessments for all UI sophomores to provide immediate feedback on risk.

The UI's heaviest student drinkers have grade-point averages that are one-fourth to one-third lower than average students, according to statistics from the group.