School could lose more than $100 million in proposed budget cuts

A Florida state Senate budget is threatening to shred funding for the University of South Florida, with other schools also facing significant cuts.

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The budget includes about $400 million in cuts to Florida's university system. Under the proposal, USF would take a $104 million hit, dropping the school's funding from $178 million to $74 million. USF's cuts would be the largest in the system.

At an emergency meeting of the USF Board of Trustees, President Judy Genshaft vowed to fight the cuts she called "draconian."

"It's not a done deal," Genshaft said.

The proposed cuts to USF represent about twenty percent of all the cuts to the entire university system. School leaders say it would translate to a loss of classes and services for students and faculty. It could also result in the loss of a number of jobs and could drain the school's reserves.

"Let's say we have a leaky roof or a storm comes through and causes damage, that reserve that's there for those types of things disappears," said USF's Chief Operating Officer, John Long.

The Senate is also considering a bill that would make USF Polytechnic the state's 12th university. If that happened, USF would have to absorb the cost of extra students, faculty and staff, as well as the funding for USF's pharmacy school.

The Senate budget could be up for a vote in the next two to three weeks. It would go into effect in July.

USF leaders are now urging school supporters to contact their lawmakers to protest the budget plan. You can find their link to a list of Bay Area lawmakers here:

http://usfalumni.org/s/861/internal.aspx?sid=861&gid=1&pgid=1768&sparam=Legislature&scontid=0

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