UF dean warns of more layoffs, Gainesville Sun

January 24, 2009
By Nathan Crabbe


Just as faculty are fighting layoffs from 2008, a University of Florida dean has warned there will "almost certainly" be more layoffs if expected budget cuts occur.

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean Paul D'Anieri sent a letter to college faculty last week girding them for more layoffs.

"There will almost certainly be layoffs, and if the cut is more than a few percent, there will be layoffs of tenure-track and possibly tenured faculty," he wrote.

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66 Florida probation officers laid off, Miami Herald

January 19. 2009
By Jennifer Liberto

With the state budget tightening, 66 Department of Corrections probation officers lost their jobs last week.

The layoffs targeted those with less than a year of service and represented a 3 percent reduction in the probation officer force statewide, including 22 in South Florida. The cuts, made Thursday, stemmed from last year's cuts in the prison system's budget, which faces a $28 million hole in its balance sheet.

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Florida colleges face 4% budget cuts, fear more in spring, Tampa Tribune

January 14, 2009
By Lindsay Peterson

For universities and colleges across Florida, the bad times started two years ago. And like nearly everyone these days, higher education officials see their finances going from bad to worse.

This week, Florida lawmakers are expected to take 4 percent from the state's college and university budgets for 2008-09. That amounts to $93.5 million for the State University System's 11 institutions.

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UF president looks ahead to 'tough year' of cuts, Herald Tribune

January 2, 2009
By Nathan Crabbe


GAINESVILLE - From the standpoint of enrollment at University of Florida, the BCS national championship is happening at the worst time possible.

If past trends are any indication, the Gator football team's appearance in the game in Miami on Jan. 8 will cause a greater percentage of accepted students to attend UF. But state budget cuts mean UF must trim enrollment next year by 1,000 students, forcing the university to reject more students to make up the difference.

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Reports chronicle looming healthcare crisis across Florida, Jacksonville Business Journal

December 31, 2008

NORTHEAST FLORIDA – First was a failing grade for access to the state’s emergency rooms. Then came a forecast of doctor shortages. And the latest report on mass layoffs in health care is yet another sobering report on the state of health care in Florida.

The final month of 2008 left a lot to chew on for health care officials and state lawmakers — evidence of an erosion in the state’s health care system that isn’t expected to improve in 2009.

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Progressive? CLAS firings reflect bias, not diversity, Independent Florida Alligator

December 4, 2008

Here at the Editorial Board, we have noticed that the repeated appearance of a few key factors in the Alligator has actually presented us with a defined cycle.

The failing economy leads to budget cuts. Budget cuts lead to layoffs. Layoffs lead to finger–pointing and angry protesters. And we get to document all of it.

This time around, the cycle is affecting the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. UF’s recent budget cuts have been widely reported locally, so it was not a surprise to see a large portion of the cutbacks aimed at UF’s largest college.

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More cuts possible, but UF hopes to avoid it, Herald Tribune

By Nathan Crabbe
August 31, 2008

The University of Florida has lost 115 faculty members since this time last year, but not because of a feared brain drain, UF President Bernie Machen told the Faculty Senate last week.

Machen said a nearly 3 percent drop in the size of the faculty is due to retirements and a freeze on hiring with limited exceptions. But he said more cuts could hasten the departure of faculty and harm the university in other ways.

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Machen says UF needs more revenue in State of University address, Independent Florida Alligator

By Ileana Morales
August 29, 2008

UF President Bernie Machen said in his State of the University address Thursday that UF needs to focus on ways to build new revenue and preserve its resources — even after budget cuts.

At the first Faculty Senate meeting of the year, he told senators that UF’s Florida Tomorrow capital campaign and the Differential Tuition Program are generating millions of dollars for the university, but UF needs to also work on getting students to graduate faster as it receives more applications.

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Privitization is key to saving UF, Gainesville Sun

By Bill Cunningham
August 10, 2008

UF President Bernie Machen announced recently that Florida should invade its "rainy day" fund of more than $3 billion to relieve the institution's financial crisis.

Readers and members of the university community will recall that last spring the state legislature cut UF's budget by some $47 million, allegedly eliminating about 430 faculty and staff positions (some vacant), necessitating personnel layoffs, and curtailing or modifying a number of academic programs, especially in languages but including biological and social sciences.

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Were women and minorities targeted in UF layoffs? TV20 WCJB

August 1, 2008

Women and minorities were disproportionately targeted for layoffs by the University of Florida, according to an email message sent by the school's Faculty Union President and now obtained by WCJB.

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Editorial: Florida schools should shun political hires, CBS News

Reprinted from the Independent Florida Alligator
July 29, 2008

As a result of the worst budget crisis in state history, Floridas colleges and universities have been forced to leave vacant positions unfilled, eliminate or incapacitate various degree programs and hand out pink slips to faculty members in order to cope with the state Legislatures refusal to fully fund higher education.

In the wake of crippling budget cuts and skyrocketing tuition and fee increases, were disappointed to see the administrators at Floridas institutions of higher education handing out lucrative and unmerited positions to current and former elected officials.

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UF faculty and staff to get small raises, Independent Florida Alligator

By Katie Sanders
July 25, 2008

UF President Bernie Machen announced a plan Friday to give faculty and staff small pay raises for the first time in two years.

Faculty will receive 3 percent merit-based raises based on criteria set by each college’s dean. All staff will receive an across-the-board 2 percent raise.

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UF employees to get raises, Gainesville Sun

By Nathan Crabbe
July 25, 2008

The University of Florida will use tuition money to boost employee pay at a time of budget cuts and layoffs, UF President Bernie Machen announced Friday.

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UF plans $11-million in faculty incentives, St. Petersburg Times

By Shannon Colavecchio-VanSickler
July 26, 2008

Hoping to boost morale and stem the exodus of top professors, Florida's largest public university will set aside more than $11-million in tuition revenue for faculty merit raises and staffer cost-of-living increases.

University of Florida president Bernie Machen called the merit plan, announced Friday, an "attempt to stem the brain drain" of professors who are leaving for jobs in states where the support for higher education is more stable.

Under the plan, UF's more than 8,300 staffers will get cost-of-living raises of 2 percent or $600, whichever is greater, starting with their Sept. 19 paychecks. The pool of money available for faculty merit raises will be expanded by 3 percent, and deans will decide how to dole out the money. That means some of UF's 5,285 faculty members could get raises of more than 3 percent, while others could get less.

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50,000 UCF students face staff, class cuts, Orlando Sentinel

By Luis Zaragoza
July 3, 2008

With enrollment expected to hit the 50,000 milestone this fall, the University of Central Florida warned Wednesday that state-ordered budget cuts will mean fewer instructors, fewer courses and more crowded classrooms.

The cuts are forcing UCF to trim spending by $11.4 million this year.

UCF cuts budget by $11.4M, Orlando Business Journal

July 2, 2008

The University of Central Florida will cut its budget by $11.4 million and consider eliminating some academic and administrative programs.

The measures, announced by UCF Provost Terry Hickey Wednesday, were prompted by a $6 million shortfall in state funds and a move to create a $5.4 million reserve fund to deal with future state cuts.

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State budget cuts lead to increased SFCC tuition, Independent Florida Alligator

By Kristen Huff
July 1, 2008

SFCC’s Board of Trustees approved a budget plan last week that will raise tuition 6 percent and cut $3 million in spending.President Jackson Sasser said the changes result from an 11 percent cut in state funding, including the additional 4 percent slash approved by Gov. Charlie Crist on June 12.

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Florida state-wide budget cuts hit home for some UF professors, WCJB-TV

By Brittany Soeder
June 12, 2008

une 10th 2009 is the final day for some of UF's tenure-track professors. They will empty out their book shelves and for some, start the long process of tenure all over again.

For the rest of this interview, click here.

Money for UF hires draws grumbling, Gainesville Sun

By Nathan Crabbe
June 12, 2008

In the same week that faculty layoff notices were issued, University of Florida trustees are considering a tuition increase that allows as many as 20 new faculty members and advisers to be hired.

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