LSUE spared massive budget cuts

LSU Eunice was spared most of the $797,151 budget cut it faced earlier this year, and a remaining cut of about $110,000 will be made up by not filling six positions that have opened up this semester.
LSUE Chancellor Kimberly Russell said, “How the special session ended up, they were trying to fill the $700 million shortfall. That was going to come from higher education and health care. Well, DHH took all of that, so our state general funds for higher education were not cut.
“However, we were cut through TOPS. Everybody in the state, all colleges and universities, have to do 20 percent. LSU, as a whole, all components, that’s about $11 million dollars. For LSUE, it’s almost $102,000 and total cuts are about $110,000. The TOPS cuts are devastating for LSU Baton Rouge. They have the most students on TOPS.”
Russell said there is nowhere to go for revenue, the school cannot offer new classes before the end of the fiscal year and there is nowhere else to trim the campus’ budget to make up for the shortfall caused by the TOPS cut.
Personnel costs at the campus exceed $10.2 million and represent 84 percent of the university’s total expenses, and trimming in the faculty and staff ranks would have been the only way to bridge the money gap.
“The money has to be made up in these last three months,” she said.
Russell said two of the six positions will have been empty for five months and four have been empty for three months when the fiscal year ends June 30. Whether or not these positions will be filled may be decided July 1, when the new fiscal year begins.
She added, “There have been no raises at LSUE in eight years. It’s sad.”
Russel thanked Sen. Eric Lafleur and Rep. Phillip Devillier for their help to mitigate the huge cut to higher education. She said she will continue to work the two politicians in the next session to help fund LSUE.