Penn State Intercom......August 29, 2002

Budget shortfalls
cause layoffs in Ag

Nineteen people are losing their jobs in the College of Agricultural Sciences and dozens of additional positions are being lost through attrition and other changes as a result of funding from the state and federal governments that has been cut or has not kept up with inflation in recent years.

The economic downturn that contributed to state funding cuts for fiscal year 2002-2003, combined with a multi-year erosion of federal appropriations, has prompted the College of Agricultural Sciences to reduce the number of faculty, extension educators and support staff conducting research and cooperative extension programs. The college's two-year plan will result in the elimination of about 20 faculty positions, 35 county-based extension educator positions and 28 staff positions.

"This past year has been tumultuous, with the sputtering economy placing our resource base in a most precarious position," said Robert Steele, dean of the college. "Despite action by the state Legislature to partially restore proposed deeper cuts to our agricultural research and extension budget lines, we are faced with the need to downsize our programs."

The commonwealth of Pennsylvania cut $10 million from the University's appropriation in the middle of last year because of revenue shortfalls resulting from the state's tight economy. This year's funding from the state was reduced $12.2 million from the previous year's appropriation. These cuts have resulted in the state appropriation currently only making up 13.4 percent of Penn State's overall budget.

In anticipation of budget shortfalls, the college instituted a "soft" hiring freeze earlier this year, filling only positions of critical importance. Although the resulting cost savings allowed the college to divert some resources to high-priority areas, they were not enough to avert program reductions, Steele said.

As of July 1, the college's full-time work force included 316 faculty, 298 county extension educators and 597 staff. The college's downsizing plan targets the following key areas:

* Graduate assistantships: The college currently allocates about $2.5 million annually to its 12 academic departments for graduate assistantships. To meet shortfalls and rising benefits costs, this budget line will be reduced by about $525,000 over the next two years. "On the other hand, we have considerable opportunity to maintain support for graduate students by securing more extramural research funding," Steele said.

* Research: In addition to the reduction in graduate assistantships, 10 research faculty full-time equivalent positions (FTEs) and 18 research staff FTEs will be lost, resulting in about $1.5 million in savings over two years.

* Extension: To meet budget shortfalls, $2.5 million in savings must be found, divided roughly equally between University Park and county-based extension operations. Resulting reductions at University Park will affect 10 extension faculty FTEs in the college's academic units and 10 staff positions. The number of county-based extension educators will be reduced by about 35 over the same two-year period. While each of the eight extension regions will be affected, these reductions will be based on program priorities and will not be simply "across the board." Many, but not all, of these staff reductions will be accomplished through retirements and resignations, Steele said.

"However, we are still faced with the reality of having to lay off some college personnel. We currently are notifying six individuals at University Park and 13 staff members in county-based positions that they are being placed in lay-off status, effective Oct. 1.

"Clearly, these are steps that nobody wants to take," he said. "However, our organization, like any other, is not immune to swings in the economy. We simply can't spend money that we don't have and we must position ourselves to move forward when the economic picture brightens, as it most certainly will."

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