Image: Ayres Associates

Faces with an estimated $13.6 million reduction in UW-Eau Claire’s budget over the coming year, Chancellor James Schmidt has outlined several strategies to balance the university’s books. In a May 5 blog post, Schmidt said the university wants to avoid across-the-board cuts and hopes to preserve academic programs. “Our commitment to preserving the student experience will mean that non-instructional units will bear a significant burden,” he wrote. Specific targets include reducing senior administrative-level staff by 25 percent; saving 20 percent of the facilities budget through restructuring; saving money by creating a Student Services One-Stop Center; creating an Administrative Service Center to consolidate business services on campus; and cutting administrative and academic support staff by 20 percent. Schmidt said he expects some of these goals will be met through the so-called voluntary separation incentive program, which offers buyouts for certain employees who agree to leave the university. Additional details of the cuts and their impact on student instruction will be available soon, Schmidt added. The estimated $13.6 million shortfall includes UWEC’s estimated share of cuts made to the UW System in Gov. Scott Walker’s state budget ($9.1 million) and an existing structural deficit for the 2014-15 academic year ($4.5 million).