In response to a directive from the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget, the University System Board of Regents has directed all the system institutions to develop and submit a plan for a 2 percent reduction in their state appropriations, both for the current fiscal year 2012 and the following fiscal year 2013.

While state revenue collections have been positive for the last 14 months, state officials remain cautious. Over the summer, state agencies — the University System of Georgia included — were requested to develop a plan to return 2 percent of their state appropriation for each of the next two budget cycles. For the University System, a 2 percent reduction equates to a cut of $34.8 million for FY 2012; of this, $4.2 million will come from Georgia Tech.

“Even though state revenues are expected to grow moderately, our biggest challenge, now and in the foreseeable future, is resources,” President G. P. “Bud” Peterson said. “The global recession continues to present challenges at the federal, state and local levels, impacting us here at Georgia Tech like everyone else.”

To accommodate the state’s request, Peterson said a portion of the reduction will be managed centrally and the rest will have to be absorbed at the departmental and unit levels. “Through careful planning and the additional revenue realized through tuition, Georgia Tech is still capable of meeting its core responsibilities,” Peterson said.

“We believe we can continue to preserve and enhance our instructional activities, address critical academic issues such as the faculty-student ratio and course availability, and continue to support our research and service missions,” Peterson said. “Over the course of the past several years, we have been able to hire a few new faculty to ensure the quality of our academic and research programs and partially accommodate our enrollment growth. We are continuing to work to address retention and compression issues. While I fully recognize that we have not been able to give merit raises for the past four years, we are working to resolve this as quickly as we can, given the current economic pressures.”

Peterson also expressed his appreciation for the support of the Georgia Tech community. “I continue to be impressed with the tremendous dedication and support of the people of Georgia Tech. These are difficult times and by pulling together, we can and will continue to provide the very best educational opportunities for our students and effectively serve the state of Georgia.”