Chancellor Neal Schnoor shared a draft budget reductions report that is meant to address UNK’s $4.5 million structural deficit. The draft includes program eliminations, personnel-related cuts and non-academic reductions.
Schnoor presented his report in an email and at a forum on Tuesday.
“I will make no effort to tell you that today is not a difficult day,” Schnoor said. “Unfortunately, this institution for 20 years has done this 19 times. I hope to change that trend starting next fall.”
The Faculty Advisory Committee and Budget Advisory Committee reviewed data and met with the University’s deans, directors, units, faculty, staff and students throughout the fall. Each sent recommendations on Nov. 26 to the Chancellor, who then drafted his recommendations.
Schnoor’s draft recommendation includes the proposed elimination of the following degrees:
- Family Science, Bachelor of Science (27 majors)
- Higher Education Student Affairs, Master of Science in Education (8 candidates)
- Modern Languages, Bachelor of Arts, German Emphasis (1 major)
- Music Comprehensive, Bachelor of Music, Music Business Emphasis (3 majors)
- Modern Languages 7-12 Teaching Endorsement, Bachelor of Arts in Education – German Emphasis (0 majors)
Enrollment numbers influenced the committees’ and Schnoor’s recommendations.
“We’re just trying to be as strategic as we can, because we want to keep the programs that are moving forward,” Schnoor said. “If you look at the ones that are looking at elimination, those enrollments are really not strong enough to maintain.”
Students already enrolled in the programs proposed for elimination will be able to complete their degrees.
Eighty percent of UNK’s operating budget supports personnel. The draft’s personnel-related cuts total $2,416,591.
These eliminations include nine voluntary separations, seven open lines and a reduction in force of five positions. The voluntary separations include two each in Communication and Marketing and one each in Art and Design, Counseling and School Psychology, Cybersecurity, English and Teacher Education. Open and captured lines include two in Family Science and one each in Biology, Chemistry, Communication, English and History.
The reduction in force includes two positions each in Family Science and Music and one position in History.
Non-Academic reductions include:
- Open Staff Lines (7) and Part-time custodial line (1) – $559,993
- Operating Fund Rebalance (5%) – $400,000
- Student remissions Reduce/Fundraise (Athletics, Kearney Health and Kearney Law Opportunities Programs) – $400,000
- Graduate Assistants (20) – $300,000
- Summer Salary Budget (underutilized) – $200,000
- Athletics Operations – $200,000
- Chancellor: VC Enrollment/Marketing Restructure, Office Associate (1) – $153,983
- Vacate Student Affairs Building and Thomas Hall (avoids costly repairs) – $85,047
- Office for Intercultural Engagement and Leadership Restructure (1) – $66,630
- Museum of Nebraska Art MOU support (beginning FY28) – $35,649
- College of Business & Technology – Marketing and Institutional Engagement – $18,737
At the forum, a few audience members asked about the Student Affairs Building and Thomas Hall recommendations. Schnoor said the Student Affairs Building would be torn down, but Thomas Hall would not.
Another area of concern for audience members was students’ current scholarships, which Schnoor said will be honored.
Schnoor listed many factors contributing to the deficit, including tuition and appropriations effects from the last 10 years, inflation, healthcare insurance costs, rising remissions and a decline in enrollment. UNK’s enrollment is down 16% in the last decade.
Despite this decline, Schnoor said UNK is turning out 300 more degrees at graduation each semester than it did in 2000.
The draft budget reduction proposal identifies $4.8 million in cuts.
“You can see the total was a little bit higher than really what we need,” said Julie Shaffer, senior vice chancellor for academic affairs. “That gives us flexibility to make changes going forward if we need to.”
The Faculty Advisory Committee also gave a recommendation in their report for after the reductions are decided, encouraging the campus to collaborate and come together as a supportive team.
“The most attractive thing we can do to recruit in this time of turmoil is to deeply believe as an institution that we will come through this period and enable our students to be successful despite the uncertainty,” the Faculty Advisory Committee wrote. “In fact, we need more than that. We need to show them how to be resilient and adaptive and successful in spite of the challenges we all face in not knowing the future. That is the beauty of education; we inspire students to face and overcome challenges that haven’t ever existed before. We know that what we do today really does change the future. So, our final recommendation is to be inspired and inspiring. What we do changes destinies, and UNK’s destiny is not that of continued cuts and struggles.”
Schnoor is accepting feedback through Dec. 17 by email at [email protected]. He is also hosting an in-person feedback session with Shaffer and Scott Benson, vice chancellor for business and finance. It will be held in the Antelope Room of the Nebraskan Student Union from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Dec. 11.
The final recommendations will be sent in an email on Dec. 22. Schnoor said he ideally would like to take the proposal to the Board of Regents’ next meeting on Feb. 6.
Schnoor’s report, as well as the Faculty Advisory Committee and Campus Budget Advisory Committee’s reports, can be found at https://www.unk.edu/bf/2025-budget-process.php
