During the 2001 session, the Nebraska Legislature addressed the long-standing faculty salary issue within the University of Nebraska.

As a result, on July 1, 2001, our faculty received, on average, salary increases greater than 5 percent as a part of a four-year effort to bring average faculty salaries to the midpoint of our peer institutions.

The current downturn in the economy resulted in state tax revenues being lower than projected for most months since June 2001.

Realizing the serious situation, Gov. Mike Johanns called a special session of the Unicameral in November.

The Legislature passed and the governor signed a rescission bill temporarily removing $8.31 million from the University of Nebraska budget for the current fiscal year and permanently reducing the university budget by $11.2 million for the upcoming fiscal year.

The Agricultural Research Division (ARD) was, in turn, impacted by this rescission. In the current fiscal year, ARD returned $195,000 to the state, and we anticipate that our permanent budget will be reduced by about $450,000 effective July 1, 2002.

These reductions were difficult to make because all of the increased funds provided by the Legislature had been allocated to faculty and staff salaries effective July 1, 2001, and no flexible funds were available to meet the rescission. In addition, the rescission came in the middle of the fiscal year after half of the budget had been expended, making the reduction twice as difficult.

In making the budget reductions, we have attempted to minimize the impact on our ability to address clientele needs and to maintain excellence in critical research programs.

However, the rescission has resulted in the loss of some faculty positions that currently are vacant and the loss of several support staff positions.We regret that these positions have been lost, but this was necessary given the fact that 85 percent of the ARD budget is allocated to salaries, wages and fringe benefits. We anticipate that some of the high priority faculty positions will be re-established in the future as resources become available.

We recognize that ARD should shoulder a fair share of the rescission assigned to the university and have proceeded to reduce our budget in a responsible manner. We pledge that our programs will continue to address clientele needs within the limits of our resources. We welcome your input on research priorities and your suggestions regarding needed faculty expertise.

Our mission is to serve the research needs of Nebraska as defined in the statutes establishing the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station, and we intend to carry out our mission to the fullest extent possible.

Darrel W. Nelson
Dean and Director
Agricultural Research Division

Darrell Nelson