Published: Thursday, Oct. 22, 2009 / Updated: Thursday, Oct. 22, 2009 11:42 AM

Winthrop scoffs at potential 15 percent cut

Sanford asks colleges to start thinking about tighter budget

Gov. Mark Sanford recently asked state universities how they'd be affected by another 15-percent slice in the budget next year.

Winthrop replied: Severely.

Another 15 percent from the university's appropriations would likely mean more furloughs and layoffs for personnel, President Anthony DiGiorgio told his Board of Trustees on Wednesday.

Tuition would have to be raised, eventually, to “support core activities,” the university wrote in its response to the governor's office.

The hypothetical cut would cost Winthrop another $2.6 million, and school officials told the governor such a reduction would “severely impair” the university from doing its job. The state already has cut $5.8 million from Winthrop's appropriation.

Winthrop isn't offering much more information about the issue to Sanford. School officials didn't attempt to quantify how many layoffs, how many days of furlough or how much tuition would be raised to offset a 15 percent cut.

President Anthony DiGiorgio on Wednesday called the budget making process “laughable to this point.”

His assistant, Rebecca Masters, said in an e-mail that Sanford's budget recommendations aren't taken seriously in the General Assembly, “which prefers to develop its own approach to budgeting.”

But Sanford spokesman Ben Fox said the state is bracing for another year in a tough economy. Fox said the governor's office recognizes that 15 percent is “not a small chunk,” but he said the number was a starting point for universities to begin thinking about how they could manage their money on a tighter budget.

“We don't think it's laughable at all to prepare for the worst while hoping for the best,” Fox said. “It's something we've tried to live by budget wise, and we've encouraged legislators to do the same.”

The governor's request came while preparing his recommended budget to the General Assembly. The state's budget process will begin in January and it typically continues into June.

Masters said the university will keep staff informed about the budget, “just as it did throughout last year.”

She said the president already has told the Winthrop community that a return to furloughs and/or layoffs would be the only option remaining if additional reductions hit the budget.

Masters also said it is “far too early in the appropriations process to speculate about tuition for next year.”