MU Arts and Science to benefit from reallocation of UM funds

As University of Missouri System leaders consider how to reallocate $20 million, one beneficiary is MU’s College of Arts and Science.

A portion of about $3.5 million will be put toward making sure there are enough teachers. The money will be used to fund last-minute additions to the Arts and Science teaching staff.

“Sometimes when enrollment is bigger than anticipated, we have to put faculty in all of a sudden,” said Michael O’Brien, dean of Arts and Science. “We have to think, ‘How many faculty do we need to cover that?’”

On Friday, UM System President Elson Floyd announced a plan to save $20 million in administrative costs throughout the UM System. Under a process to be explained Friday at a meeting of the UM Board of Curators, about $18 million of the savings will be put toward academic enhancements, such as faculty recruitment, and $2 million will be put toward balancing the system’s operating budget.

Documents from the UM System show that $3.5 million will go toward access to quality learning and teaching. At MU, that will include scholarships and study-abroad support for students.

MU will also get a portion of $4.6 million for academic and research achievement in the life sciences; the Law School; the Thompson Family Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders; the Harry S. Truman School of Public Affairs; and the University of Missouri Bioinformatics Consortium, which supports research in bioinformatics and life sciences across the UM System.

Administrative positions will be eliminated in the College of Engineering, the Truman School and the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources.

One position has been cut from the Law School. Randy Diamond, who had been associate director of the law library, was promoted in fall 2005 to the director’s position. The old job was then eliminated, freeing up $98,000.

“The money is to be used to enhance the law library and student support,” said Casey Baker, the Law School’s director of external relations.

In November, Floyd called on chancellors and system leaders to find ways to trim administrative costs by $12.5 million. MU Chancellor Brady Deaton, in consultation with other campus leaders, recommended $7.07 million in cuts.

Savings of $1 million came when the university changed its credit card policy. Now, students and their parents using plastic to pay tuition must also pay a 2.75 percent service charge. This money has been earmarked for new scholarships.

Deaton declined to comment on those recommendations.

The University of Missouri-Kansas City has recommended $9.96 million in administrative cuts; the University of Missouri-St. Louis, $1.49 million in cuts; and the University of Missouri-Rolla, $1.1 million.