To N.C. State students,

There has been a great deal of conversation about the state of the economy and its impact on higher education in North Carolina. The state’s universities have been asked to prepare for budget cuts of up to 15 percent. That’s about $80 million for N.C. State — a very substantial reduction that may affect class sizes, sections, your progress toward graduation and tuition.

I wanted you to hear from me how we are approaching budget reductions at N.C. State. As I mentioned in my video message to campus, our first priority is to protect classroom instruction to the extent possible. We also will make every effort to continue to provide a quality, affordable education.

Neither of these objectives will be easy. We would all feel the pain of such a deep cut – students, faculty and staff.

To give ourselves the best chance of protecting instruction and continuing to provide you a strong return on your investment in your education, we have begun a review our institutional operations. The goal is to find opportunities to consolidate administrative operations in a way that would produce cost savings as well as greater efficiency. Similarly, we will consider the consolidation of select academic units in an effort to reduce administrative cost and improve synergy in the delivery of academic programs and research opportunities. We also will review all low-enrolled courses and academic degree programs and under-subscribed majors and minors for possible elimination.

We will have a more specific plan on March 15 with a goal of implementing the plan starting July 1. Some parts of the plan likely will take effect over time, while others will be more immediate. For example, we would phase out a low-enrolled academic program over several months, while we might more readily eliminate a low-enrolled class.

I know you are worried about tuition. Our tuition for next year was submitted to the Board of Governors in November and will be voted on at the February BOG meeting. It remains to be seen whether the legislature will, like last year, provide the authority to increase tuition as an offset to budget cuts. North Carolina is nationally known as a state that strongly supports quality, affordable higher education. Our goal is to work together with the state to maintain that balance — affordability without quality is no bargain.

Drastic reductions in our budget are certainly not good news, but by sharpening our focus and streamlining operations, I believe we will emerge from this difficult time with forward momentum. Through regular messages to campus and the Budget News site, I will keep you informed of the progress of our budget reduction planning. I appreciate your patience and understanding as we navigate extraordinary economic times.

Randy Woodson

Chancellor, N.C. State University