The situation in which the university finds itself this year is not unprecedented. Increases in state appropriations for the university have averaged only 3.3 percent during the past eight years, which have been insufficient to fund salaries, let alone other priorities. Tuition increases have been held to a minimum to continue to provide access for all qualified Nebraska students. In addition, tuition income is down because enrollment on a head-count basis has declined by 4,100 since the fall of 1994. In light of these facts, we have instituted a process of internally reallocating existing funds to address our needs.
Central administration follows the same pattern on a system-wide basis.
Many of the computing infrastructure improvements needed for distance learning programs and the Administrative System Project, which will improve our business and human resource operations, for example, have been funded by this method. So have items such as the Plant Science Initiative, neuroscience research, recruitment programs for minorities and women, student scholarships, and honors programs. Each campus has established goals for the coming biennium to redirect funding to identified priority areas. In addition, I have appointed a task force on administrative efficiency that includes CEOs and senior managers from seven Nebraska businesses. The task force will have a free hand to examine all of the university's non-academic programs and to recommend changes that will make us more efficient and allow us to use our limited funds more effectively.