Dear Colleagues:

            This past Friday I met with the Budget Working Group to finalize our strategic budget for the coming fiscal year. From the beginning our focus has been on strengthening our ability to deliver our teaching and research missions and growing revenue, while doing so in the most efficient and effective manner possible. The budget submission process has been completed, the faculty and research mission have been preserved and we have created a solid foundation for the fall of 2014 and beyond.    We have a broad range of recruitment, retention, and completion efforts already underway.  I’ll be sharing details and early results over the next two weeks.  I think you will be pleased with indications of early progress and momentum. I want to thank the deans and chairs for their leadership and hard work. 

            I am pleased to share that the budget reductions in Academic Affairs are now complete, with total reductions of $10,570,007 in the coming fiscal year and $4.5 million rolled into the next fiscal year.  This approach will allow time for careful study and also an opportunity to gauge any growth secondary to the broad range of retention and completion initiatives already underway.  Of the total, $3,554,733 (34%) is being captured through administrative reductions and $3.2 million (30%) through the recovery of designated tuition/fee funds (as shared very early in the discussions).  In short, 64% of the total reductions are outside of the core academic delivery and research mission of the University. 

          As noted before the holiday break, there will be no faculty layoffs, with the reductions being managed through normal attrition.  It is important to mention that we have taken care to position ourselves for growth in targeted colleges and programs, along with supporting our core research mission. We have strengthened our ability to deliver a comprehensive educational experience for our students, reaching from the arts to the sciences.  For the first time in over a decade we will expand our research support infrastructure, with services provided at the college level. Our commitment to interdisciplinary research will continue to expand in concrete and practical ways over the next few years.

            I have asked Dick Evans, President of the Faculty Senate, to work with the Senate membership and offer recommendations on a mechanism for annual reviews of academic program performance, along with administrative efficiency and effectiveness.  This group will provide input for the Budget Working Group and the central administration on how well our budget decisions continue to align with university priorities. 

            Thank you for your hard work and for caring so deeply about the University of Memphis and our students.  We’re making great progress and meeting the challenges in a thoughtful and strategic fashion. 

 Go Tigers!

M. David Rudd, Provost