The University of California's (UC) budget cuts will first affect campus faculty chairs, fellowships and scholarships among all nine universities. Officials at last week's Regents' meeting said that the financial decline will only get worse.
The UC endowment lost $1 billion recently. Returns from the endowment are typically used to support such scholarship and faculty chair programs. If losses continue, both students and faculty could suffer, UC Spokesman Trey Davis told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Executive Director of Finance and Administration Elizabeth Wottring-Gonzales said that while lawmakers are making those budget decisions, each campus has been asked to cut back on expenses under their control.
"The rise and fall of investment returns do play some role in resources available for scholarships and faculty chairs and donor funds," Wottring-Gonzales said. "And we are hopeful that financial times improve."
The Regents' reports indicate that the general endowment pool managed by the UC Board of Regents stood at $5.7 billion as of Sep. 30, which was down from the $6.7 billion as of Dec. 31, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle.
"Everything went wrong in the quarter," UC Treasurer Marie Berggren told the Regents' Investment Committee during a conference call, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. "It is going to get worse."
UCR is preparing to weather the financial storm, said Chancellor Timothy White. "Thanks to a planning process initiated last year, the campus leadership has a strategy for dealing (with the fiscal year of 2008-2009), including drawing down reserves and taking other actions to keep our budget balanced," White said in a statement.
But many students said they are beginning to worry about the outcome of the budget for the next school year regarding tuition and financial aid.
"I can't imagine how it would be like for students next year," said fourth year creative writing major Marissa Ruffman.
While financial aid will continue to be available for eligible students, some students are still concerned that it may be reduced. "Financial aid might not be enough to pay for the staggering tuition and that concerns me," said second year undeclared major Deisy Rodriguez.
Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs James Sandoval said he is unsure of the exact outcome of the budget shortfall. "It certainly is the most difficult financial crisis and it is premature to speculate what the final impact of the budget will be," Sandoval said.
Sandoval also said that it will be particularly difficult for this campus as it is continuously growing and both the budget cuts and the economy may compromise the ability for the campus to meetsome of its goals.
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