Public forum on the WWU budget set for May 18 on campus; live audiocast will be available

A public forum on the proposed supplemental 2010-11 annual operating budget for Western Washington University will be held from 3 to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, May 18, in the Old Main Theatre on campus.

Faculty, staff, students and members of the community are welcome to attend the forum, which will begin with a brief opening presentation by WWU President Bruce Shepard and be followed by an open dialogue that will include Western's vice presidents.

"The Western community has worked diligently and with great cooperation on a transparent budgeting process that had to respond to deep cuts required of us by the state," Shepard said. "These cuts to Western are serious but everyone involved in the budget process worked very hard to protect the high academic quality for which Western is well known."

Western's 2009-11 biennial budget last year responded to a 28.8-percent reduction in state support that included a cut to Western of $9.5 million in the 2010-11 fiscal year. The state, facing continuing sharp drops in state revenue, this year required Western to respond to an additional $3.073-million base budget reduction and an additional one-time reduction of $1.172 million. This proposed budget responds to that additional 5.3-percent state funding reduction to Western through a variety of cuts, including the elimination or reduction of 10 positions.

Last year, Western budget cuts resulted in 164 fewer university positions.

"Protecting core academic commitments was established as the foremost guiding principle early in this budget process. As a result, we have reallocated funding where possible that supports classroom instruction," said Catherine Riordan, WWU provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. "We cut more deeply than needed to address critical academic issues such as students’ access to classes in high-demand fields and their ability to finish their degrees in a timely fashion. I am deeply appreciative of the dedicated efforts of our faculty to help students reach their education goals. I am proud to be a part of a university with such a strong commitment to students."

The 2010-11 budget proposal is available for review at the University Planning & Budgeting website.

The public forum will be audiocast live by WWU's Academic Technology and User Services for those unable to attend the forum. The audiocast will be recorded for later listening. The link for the audiocast is at http://www.wwu.edu/upb/presentations/.

Western's Board of Trustees will consider the president's recommended 2010-11 supplemental operating budget for final action on June 11.