The Johns Hopkins University lost $4.9 million dollars in state funding this year from the Sellinger Program fund, a Maryland state endowment for private universities.
The budget cuts to the Sellinger fund represent direct repercussions of the Thornton Commission, a state initiative passed last year to give $1 billion in funding to K-12 education. However, the commitment was made without a source of revenue, leaving the state in a position of "fiscal crisis" that is now drawing funding from higher education, health care initiatives and the arts, according to Bret Schreiber, acting director of Hopkins state relations in Annapolis.
The 30 percent cut to Hopkins state funding, from $17.5 million in 2002-3 to $12.6 million in 2003-4, has been proportionally distributed between Hopkins institutions according to enrollment, including Peabody Institute and the medical school. The Krieger School of Arts and Sciences lost $2.3 million dollars, according to Daniel Weiss, Dean of the Krieger School. The Whiting School of Engineering is budgeting for a cut of $1.9 million, according to Andrew Douglas, Interim Dean of the Whiting School.
Hopkins has worked to keep funding cuts from affecting its academic programs, but "if the trend [of decreasing state funding] continues, we don't know what academic services might be affected," Schreiber said.
Schreiber said he foresees the next three to four years of Sellinger funding to be "just as bad as this year," as the $1 billion deficit continues to plague the state. He added that with the poor economy, budgeting reductions arise not only from the state, but from the Hopkins endowment, contributions and tuition to give the University a "quadruple whammy."
"Were we happy? No, but we were aware of the state fiscal crisis and there was nothing we could do. We were braced, and we budgeted for it [the funding cuts] ahead of time," Schreiber said.
The deans stressed that the University prioritizes academics and will protect financial aid, student programming and undergraduate courses from the repercussions of the state budget cut. Programs affected by the cut include community support projects, University investments and fiscal initiatives like renovating classrooms and expanding a Hopkins branch to Montgomery County.
Within the Krieger School, each department was left to determine their own methods for managing tighter budgets, "but with a strong caution from the Dean, to manage these funds to prioritize the teaching responsibili ties for both undergraduate and graduate," said M. Kathryn Lauer, Associate Dean for Finance and Administration of the Krieger School.
While some departments such as History have not noted a direct impact yet, said department chair Richard Kagan, other departments are already dealing with the budget squeeze. Professor Barry Weingarten told the News-Letter last week that, "As a result of across-the-board budget cuts at the University, we [the Spanish department] lost a full-time faculty position ... and had to eliminate some of the course offerings. Faculty will teach an additional class each semester at no remuneration, and class size will increase."
Douglas said that the Whiting School has also "tried to avoid cutting any of the departmental budgets. We will not cut student aid. Budget cuts will be made to academic services (such as the technological upgrading of instructional facilities) and to some enrichment of some graduate programs Expansion of the faculty will be slowed, resulting in a slightly higher student:faculty ratio."
The primary cuts to the Hopkins state budget were finalized by the time the Maryland Legislature recessed April 10. An additional cut of 4.25 percent, or $559,000, was made July 30 by the State Board of Public Works.
Hopkins lobbied strongly to protect its state funding. As the largest private employer in the state, Hopkins contributes significantly to the Maryland economy and has generated 1,000 new jobs each year since 1999, according to Weiss. University President William Brody, Provost Steven Knapp and individual trustees met privately with the governor and held hearings before legislative committees. The University also appealed to alumni, students and faculty to contact the Maryland legislature.