President Vela balances budget for first time in seven years
Loss of funding and declining enrollment resulted in a $9 million budget shortfall for A&M-Kingsville and led to the termination of 3% of the university’s workforce last week.
Cuts and layoffs included 24 vacant staff positions, 11 vacant faculty/lecturer positions and 35 filled staff positions. Each employee who was terminated was given severance pay for 45 days and encouraged to apply for other jobs within TAMUK, according to the university.
“The eliminated filled positions account for about 3% of the total university workforce of approximately 1,100. Eliminated positions were assessed based on institutional need,” Communications Specialist Mark Molina said in an email.
On July 3, President Dr. Robert Vela sent an email to faculty and staff which stated the university suffered a loss in federal grant money and a significant decline in international graduate enrollment in the College of Engineering, which played a $3 million role in the $9 million budget shortfall. Vela also indicated there would be cuts to operations and management budgets. The university has identified $8 million worth of reductions to close the gap, according to the July 3 email. TAMUK was able to submit a balanced budget for the first time in seven years.
Budgets were previously unbalanced due to “an overall enrollment decline from 2017 to 2023,” with “recent positive enrollment and retention trends over the last two years and early indicators for this fall are positive,” Molina said.
“While we have seen encouraging enrollment growth over the last two years, enrollment declines in prior years, rising costs and $6 million in cuts to federal grants contribute to a budget shortfall. Additionally, a significant decline in international graduate enrollment in the College of Engineering has added $3 million to the existing budget gap, totaling $9 million. Our strategic realignment enables us to continue investing and remain focused on minimizing the impact on student support services and instruction. Additionally, we have intentionally reduced our operating and maintenance funds and restructured budgets to advance our strategic plan,” Vela said in the email.
Based on spring enrollments since 2016, the College of Engineering lost 1,400 enrolled students, with this year’s spring enrollment numbers sitting at 1,575, according to the TAMUK website.
In terms of international students, TAMUK as a whole has seen an almost 700 active student-enrollment decline since spring 2016.
The shortfalls in the College of Engineering are being addressed though, because of the college’s constant undergraduate recruitment and outreach efforts which have resulted in an increase of nearly 5%, which is among the highest at TAMUK, according to the university.
The decline in funds and enrollment across the university can still be seen as a hangover from COVID and governmental policy changes over the past few years.
However, the past three years have seen Vela actively pursuing academic excellence and financial stability at TAMUK with continued efforts to make the campus better.
“I am confident that we will emerge from this situation a stronger, more efficient university committed to transforming the lives of our students,” Vela said.