Board approves tight budget squeeze

The university's board of executives has now approved the math. Coming years will be tough, says budget manager

by Mike Young

The worst case scenario is still a massive budget cut.

But the board of executives of the University of Copenhagen approved a plan Tuesday that works on a slightly more optimistic assumption.

The university is to find DKK 166-266 million in cuts. This, smaller than the originally mooted cutback of DKK 366 million, is based on the assumption that funding will be allocated to the university from the government’s Globalisation Fund.

Plan will help things

The new figures can be seen in an e-mail circular from the Rector’s Office to all students and staff at the University of Copenhagen Tuesday.

An English-language version of this circular can be seen here.

The new just-approved economic scenario »will help secure the university's future during a time of government cutbacks,« the Rector’s office writes.

Government should say what is what

Budget manager Thomas Vind explains in the circular the problems the university has in budgeting, not knowing how much funding from the Danish government Globalisation Fund is available. In a perfect world these funds would help reduce the predicted 2013 deficit, he explains.

But the university should not stake its hopes on this:

»The more optimistic the scenario, the bigger risk there is that we will not receive the expected globalisation funds. In the two scenarios suggested by the Board, it is expected that the university must conduct gradual adjustments to our budget,« Thomas Vind states.

He adds that the scenarios will be adapted accordingly, as soon as more concrete information is provided by the government.

Traffic jam ahead

Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation Charlotte Sahl-Madsen has recently stated that the globalisation funds would be made available to the universities. However, specific information about how the money will be distributed will be made public as late as the autumn of 2012.

Budget manager Thomas Vind says that there will initiatives in 2011 to adjust the budget.

»It is similar to sitting in your car and hearing on the radio that there is a traffic jam ahead. You automatically start to slow down and you start searching for alternative routes. This is what the university will try to do,« explains Thomas Vind.

miy@adm.ku.dk

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