gchildress@heraldsun.com; 918-1046
Chapel Hill -- UNC system officials have been talking budgets and job cuts for quite some time now.
But on Thursday, during a meeting of the Board of Governors, many of them got a first look at exactly where the more than 900 jobs being trimmed from the system's 17 campuses have come from over the past year.
As one might expect, because of their enormous sizes, UNC and N.C. State, the system's two flagship schools, took big hits, losing more than 400 positions between them.
UNC, which was forced to cut its budget by $68 million for the 2009-10 academic year, lost 203 full time positions. Meanwhile, N.C. State lost 205 positions as part of a $57 million budget reduction.
And in Durham, N.C. Central University was forced to trim 21 administrative positions as part of a budget reduction totaling $8.7 million for the academic year.
Hannah Gage, chairwoman of the UNC Board of Governors, said when the process to cut costs began, university officials were hoping to make 75 percent to 80 percent of the budget cuts in administration. As it turns out, 96 percent of the cuts came from administration, she said.
"I think we have done a great job at a terrible task," Gage said.
UNC system President Erskine Bowles said the cuts were tough on those losing jobs, and also on the people making the decisions.
"While we get kudos for doing the right thing, it's not without some pain for the folks sitting here," Bowles said, referring to the university chancellors attending the meeting.
But even amid all of the belt-tightening, Bowles said the university protected the academic integrity of the university system.
N.C. Central University Chancellor Charlie Nelms reminded those attending the meeting that the jobs cut are more than statistics. He said they represented people.
Nelms added that the job cuts have forced NCCU and the other campuses in the UNC system to rethink the way it does business. And he said members of the board shouldn't be left with the impression that the campuses were carrying 900 more people than needed
"It's forced us to think about the way we're structured," Nelms said. "
UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp said the budget cuts aren't hurting UNC's ability to attract and hire faculty. He said the fact that UNC was able to hire 50 faculty members last year and 40 this year is due to concentrating job cuts in administration.
"We're doing more than our peers in this area and we're making some great hires," Thorp said.
Thorp said making the reductions haven't been easy.
"It's difficult, but what we've tried to do is to be as compassionate as we can," Thorp said. "This is an opportunity to instill in our people a lesson about how to deal with people in a difficult time."
Through it all, Thorp said employees have rallied and working to get the job done.
"We have people who are dedicated and talented," Thorp said. "We value the work they do."
