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Spanier to submit remaining budget cuts
By Jeremy Fitzpatrick
Senior Reporter
UNL’s budget must be cut by
$1.7 million in addition to
tentative budget-reduction
recommendations submitted by the
APC, UNL Chancellor Graham
Spanier said Wednesday.
Spanier said he would formulate a
reduction proposal to make up the
difference.
The Academic Planning Commit
tee last week sent tentative recom
mendations of about $930,000 in cuts
in City Campus programs to Spanier.
The recommendations followed a
three-month budget-cutting process
Plan must make up $1.7 million difference
highlighted by recommendations to
cut and then save the speech commu
nication and classics departments.
The APC’s cuts were based on a 2
percent reduction in UNL’s budget.
BUDGET The Legis,alure
UUUVJL I Spnng or.
dered the cuts of
2 percent this year
and 1 percent next
year.
Spanier, who
arrived at UNL in November after the
process had begun, said the entire 3
percent cut should have been made
this year.
“They (the APC) were only work
ing with the 2 percent figure, but
that’s predicated on a different ap
proach to budgeting than the one I
use,” he said. “I don ’ t believe in start
ing a fiscal year without knowing
what your budget is.”
Because no budget-reduction plan
was in place last July, 2 percent of
UNL’s budget was eliminated through
across-the-board cuts.
Spanier said he wanted the com
plete budget reduction made this year
so UNL would not have to endure
another 1 percent across-the-board
cut in next year’s budget.
“So we have to have a plan very
soon on how we are going to deal with
that additional 1 percent cut,’’he said.
Spanier would not comment on
which programs he was considering
cutting to meet the additional S1.7
million cut but said he was consulting
deans, vice chancellors, faculty and
student leaders in making that deci
sion.
He said he hoped to have a pro
posal completed to present to the
University of Nebraska Board of
Regents at its January meeting but
acknowledged that time was not on
his side.
“We’ll make a little bit of progress
step by step each day,” he said.
“It’s just going to be a challenge.”
Tom Zorn, chairman of the APC,
said he did not oppose the chancel
lor’s decision to make a complete 3
percent cut this year but said he hoped
that the APC would be consulted in
the process.
“I think it’s good that he is indicat
ing leadership in this area,” Zorn said.
“I also think the committee members
want some input in that.”
See BUDGET on 3
Workload terms
task force focus
Official: Labels
problematic, need
standardization
By Wendy Navratil
Senior Reporter
Defining terms related to the dis
tribution of faculty effort is a
problematic but key step in
launching a faculty workload study,
an official said.
Slim Liberty, University of Ne
braska-Lincoln vice chancellor for
academic affairs, said discrepancies
in what certain labels mean between
different programs at UNL and across
the NU campuses have led to prob
lems with making meaningful com
parisons between data.
—H
It eliminates a lot of
miscommunication and
misinterpretation.
Moeller
assistant vice chancellor for
the Institute of Agriculture and
Natural Resources
-w -
A UNL task force, formed to work
with the Nebraska Legislature on the
faculty workload study, is beginning
to study ways to clarify definitions
and labels such as full-time equiva
lent that now mean different things to
different programs.
“Our task force hasn’t grappled
with that issue yet,” Liberty said.
“That really is the most challenging
task ahead of us.”
Alan Moeller, assistant vice chan
cellor forjhe Institute of Agriculture
and Natural Resources, said that be
cause of special land grant require
ments for IANR, the institute specifi
cally defines what percentage of every
faculty member’s appointment is for
research, service or teaching. That
distribution of assignments is re-evalu
ated annually and sometimes changed,
he said.
But Liberty said some other UNL
programs such as arts and sciences do
not break down the time or effort that
faculty members devote to the differ
ent mission components — teaching,
research and service, which are all
lumped into one classification. There
fore, it is difficult to determine what
percentage of a faculty member’s full
time equivalent is spent in instruc
tion, research or service.
And for some programs, a further
distinction within instruction would
be more informative, Liberty said. In
some programs such as music, more
one-on-one instruction takes place than
in other departments. Teaching three
credit hours in that department may
require more of an effort than leach
ing five or six in a different depart
ment.
But the current full-time equiva
lent numerical measurement of how
much time an instructor spends teach
ing does not account for the different
levels of effort or preparation required
to teach different classes, Liberty said.
Moeller said that distinguishing
between research, teaching and serv
ice assignments has made full-time
equivalent measurements more mean
ingful at IANR.
“It eliminates a lot of miscommu
nication and misinterpretation,”
Moeller said. “It really is very helpful
out here (within IANR) in developing
position descriptions and expectations,
how pcople^rc evaluated and how we
budget our dollars.”
Liberty said the task force is still
studying several ways to clarify la
bels such as full-time equivalent. UNL
is scheduled to meet with the legisla
tive committees on Dec. 13 to discuss
how the study will proceed.
I I .. . Andy Frederick/DN
Rodrigo Cantarero, an assistant professor of community and regional planning, has been
requested by the government of his native Nicaragua to help with its national develop
ment plan.
Homeward bound
Professor leaving to aid native Nicaragua
By Kathleen McLaughlin
Staff Reporter %_ .
Native Nicaraguan Rodrigo
Cantarcro is a man with
plans.
An assistant professor of com
munity and regional planning at
the University of Nebraska-Lin
coln, Cantarcro will return to
Nicaragua in January with a
national development plan to
revitalize the country. _
Caniarero said he was asked
last summer by the Nicaraguan
government
and the
Agency For
International
Development
to assist the
Nicaraguan
minister of
economics and development in
forming a national plan that will
promote economic, social and
physical growth over the next
few years.
Because of Nicaragua’s un
stable political situation, Cantar
ero said, private investors are
wary of investing in the country
as they did in the past.
“I won’t be an urban planner
while I’m there,” Cantarcro said.
“I will be planning the growth of
the country.” _
See CANTARERO on 6
Influenza cases strike UNL early!
Health center official
recommends hygiene,
rest or vaccine shots
By Virginia Newton
Staff Reporter
The influenza virus is not at epidemic
proportions but has arrived earlier this
year than usual, a University Health
Center official said.
“Epidemics come in different sizes—if you
see four cases in one halfday, I would certainly
say that was an epidemic,” said Ralph Ewert,
interim medical director at the health center. I
have no reason to believe it has become an
epidemic; it just seems to be a little early this
year.”
Ewert said he did not know how many flu
cases the health center has handled, but he said
Bthere has not been a con
siderable increase.
The Lincoln Star reported
Tuesday that the flu had hit
early in some parts of the
country, with outbreaks in
Ohio and Tennessee forc
ing some schools to close
temporarily because of high absenteeism.
See FLU on 3
Duke plans presidential bid. Page 2
Students fear ASUN bill will accomplish
little. Page 3
Huskers fall to Spartans. Page 15
“ INDEX 2
Opinion 4
Diversions '
ciasstfieds 18
1 ' , -it
Brian ShellittyDN