President Fogel updated campus this week on efforts under way to reconcile the budget while maintaining academic quality. In his Tuesday e-mail, Fogel shared campus leadership's plan to continue to monitor the effects of economic decisions made in Washington and Montpelier while taking steps now to reduce spending.

Fogel's e-mail outlined two planned phases of budget reconciliation. Phase one, which will be completed this week, includes an $11 million reduction in the budget, partially achieved through lay-offs in areas deemed fiscally unsustainable. Phase two, which will be completed in early April, may bring further cuts to a total of $15 million, depending on outcomes of state appropriations and revenue projections. "In order to relieve the painful uncertainty affecting all members of the community," Fogel wrote, "by Friday (2/20/09) we will inform — and offer counseling and support services to — all staff affected in phase one and all who may be affected in phase two."

Although next year's class size data continues to change, departments and colleges have made efforts to hold most class sizes constant to preserve the intimate scale important to students and faculty. While the student-faculty ratio will change from 15.2-to-1 to 16-to-1 (bringing it in line with the suggested ratio in UVM's strategic plan), the increase will mostly affect the already-large sections, rather than increasing ratios for class sizes across the board.

Fogel's message noted a shift under way for the university from an "invest-and-grow" to a "focus-and-invest" strategy. "In following that new course," Fogel wrote, "we will cut administrative spending far more than spending in academic areas: once budget decisions have been made final in phase two we will share with you more detailed information, including cuts in administrative budgets, reductions in administrative positions, and constraints on administrative salary growth."

Read the full text of the e-mail on the Office of the President's website.