Pictured Above: Several USF campus leaders, including President Steve Currall and Regional Chancellor Martin Tadlock, will take salary cuts as consequence of budgetary changes due to COVID-19.
Courtesy of Cassidy Schuck
The COVID-19 pandemic, which has forced much of USF’s operations into a virtual lockdown, has also dug a $36.7 million hole in its annual budget.
But students won’t see increases in tuition and fees – at least not yet.
In a lengthy message to the university community on Thursday, President Steve Currall noted that the undergraduate base tuition rate for Florida residents is set each year by the Legislature and was not increased for the 2020-2021 budget year.
The USF Board of Trustees also has not “requested any increase at this time,” the message said.
The tuition picture may well change, however. Last month the state board that oversees Florida’s 12 public universities discussed the possibility of a tuition increase, citing the pandemic and a survey that shows Florida’s average tuition of $6,352 is the second lowest in the country, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Although Currall’s announcement Thursday stressed the salary cuts that he and other campus leaders will take, several professors told the Times that they also expect faculty layoffs in the months ahead.
The pandemic has hit America’s college campuses hard, forcing schools to go remote on many or all classes, close some of their residence halls, impose expensive safety measures, and cancel or postpone traditional activities.
In Florida, it also has driven down state tax and lottery revenue.
“Public higher education has perhaps never faced such financial obstacles,” Currall said.
The Board of Governors, which oversees Florida’s public universities, has ordered each school to cut its budget by 8.5 percent by June 30, 2021, with still more cuts likely after that.
At USF, which last month froze hiring, salary increases and university-related travel, that means a reduction of $36.7 million.
The St. Petersburg campus must cut $3.1 million, which Regional Chancellor Martin Tadlock said “we have mostly achieved” by “cutting salaries among campus senior leadership, freezing open positions and other non-personnel related items.”
“Any remaining reductions will be identified in partnership with our multi-campus deans and support area vice presidents,” he said in a message to campus faculty and staff.
“There have been no conversations” yet about faculty layoffs or program reductions, he told The Crow’s Nest.
University spokeswoman Carrie O’Brion said that Tadlock will take an 8 percent reduction on his salary of $315,000. No one else in St. Petersburg is getting a salary cut, she said.
The other cuts (and tentative amounts) announced by Currall include:
** $13.4 million in “colleges,” $4.9 million in “academic support,” $6.5 million in “university business support,” $6.9 million at USF Health and $1.9 million at USF Sarasota-Manatee.
** Salary reductions for senior leadership, starting with a 15 percent cut for Currall (whose base salary is $575,000) and cuts of 6 to 10 percent for his “leadership team.”
** Holds, “where possible,” on new construction, renovations and deferred maintenance.
** Refinancing of some outstanding debt at lower rates.
The university athletics department is making cuts that will save an estimated $2.5 million.
The department announced that it will lay off 30 staff members and impose salary cuts or furloughs for the remaining salaried staff members.
Football coach Jeff Scott, men’s basketball coach Brian Gregory and Michael Kelly, the vice president of athletics, are taking 15 percent salary cuts.
Nancy McCann contributed to this report, which includes information from the Tampa Bay Times and WUSF Public Media.
