RENO — More than 250 undergraduate students at the University of Nevada, Reno are going to have to decide whether they want to fast track earning their degrees or jump ship altogether after the university announced Monday it would be closing programs and eliminating up to 200 jobs to meet an $11 million budget cut.

The cuts will not be final until after a Thursday meeting of the Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents in Las Vegas. The board will have to make its final recommendations before June 30 and the cuts and closures will be final and in effect by June 30, 2011.

What the students and faculty have to lose

Students needing to reassess their educational options will include those seeking bachelor's degrees in many agricultural and animal technology fields, as well as those looking to get their master's degree in any education counseling field, among others.

According to university president Milton Glick, these students have until June 30, 2011, to finish their degrees. Otherwise, they may want to rethink their futures.

“The programs will be here for the next 18 months,” Glick said.

Each affected student will receive a letter informing them of the situation and asking them to meet with an adviser.

One option is to close the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources (CABNR). While two departments within the college would be reviewed for closure, according to a release from the university, the college’s other programs and research initiatives would be reorganized and continue, including research and outreach through the Nevada Agricultural Experiment Station.

“Most of the significant contributions of CABNR would be retained, including contributions to the agricultural industries and renewable energy development and preparation of pre-medicine and preveterinary medicine students, dietitians and nutritionists,” university provost Marc Johnson said. “Research and education in the basic biochemical and environmental sciences would continue, as well.”

Under the proposal, the College of Education would also consolidate into a single unit without departmental boundaries. Several master’s and doctorate-level degrees could be dismantled, meaning that master's-level advisers would not have their contracts renewed come June 30.

“It is different for graduate students because we don't get to switch majors half way through school,” said Jillian Murdock, president of the university's Graduate Student Association. “The (graduate) students I talk to are concerned about the faculty leaving. There will be students that can't finish.”

The current round of cuts also means that 75 faculty and staff will lose their jobs. According to Glick, these people have not been identified yet, but they will know more about their job security before June 30.

And this is just the first round. Another round of cuts is expected between now and June. These reductions, according to a release, will focus mainly on areas that do not need the Board of Regents' approval to trim — meaning jobs.

Both Glick and university budget director Bruce Shively said the discussion on the table Monday was only the first round of cuts and more would be needed, meaning up to 200 positions could be eliminated.

“The second round has yet to be fully determined and given a target number,” Shively said. “A lot of it will come through attrition. … We have done just about all we can do without affecting faculty.”

Those in the academic realm held their breath following the 2009 legislative session when $33 million was cut from UNR's budget. While many employees got to keep their jobs, more than 30 left the university of their own accord when UNR offered a buyout.

“We don't anticipate doing that buyout again,” Shively said.

In addition to these employees, UNR lost about 37 employees through attrition.

More than 80 percent of the university's operating budget goes to staffing, Shively added. Currently, university records show monthly payroll of about 4,600 employees, although Shively added that many of these are student workers and grant-funded positions that may not be around permanently. UNR employs about 2,000 state-funded employees.

“May some students leave? Yes. I hope not,”Glick said. “May some students now choose not to come here? I hope not.”

Will academics suffer?

According to Glick, the method behind the budget cut madness is to slice laterally rather than apply equal cuts to all academic departments.

“If you spread the cuts equally, all programs will be impacted adversely,” Glick said. “We can tell students that although you will have fewer choices, you will have high quality in the choices you can make.”

In choosing what should be cut, Glick said the university considered the number of degrees given in that specific field, the number of students taught, the uniqueness of the program and the centrality of that program to the university's mission. Each of these recommendations is included in a 12-page Curricular Review Proposal written by Johnson. The proposal can be viewed in its entirety by clicking here.

The proposal examines various departments and their cost versus benefit to the university.

The College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources (CABNR) didn't make the grade.

According to Johnson's report, “The March 2009 report of the Bureau of Economic Analysis showed that Agriculture as an industry contributed 0.2 percent of Nevada’s Gross State Product in 2004. It is difficult to justify continuing a separate College of Agriculture in Nevada. Most of the contributions of CABNR can be retained by significant reorganization of the college and closure of two departments.”

The College of Education will also take a hit. Johnson's report said the College of Education reductions were in an effort to streamline what is now a very unfocused system. All post-master's level degrees will be eliminated and the college will become one unit, with fewer than 40 tenured positions.

The proposal would “adjust faculty and operating expenditures to recognize this narrower scope of the college.”

According to the report, the College of Education produced 174 bachelor’s and 162 master’s graduates in academic year 2008 and just 21 post-master’s graduates.

The proposal would also close programs in school psychology, teaching students of other languages, counseling, marriage and family therapy and higher education leadership.

According to Shively, the state of Nevada pays for more than 70 percent of the university's instructional budget.

“When they start pulling that, it directly effects out ability to provide instruction,” he said.