Link to Final Report

On January 12, President Skorton announced the creation of a General Education Fund (GEF) Task Force whose primary task will be to recommend by April 15, recurring General Education Fund spending reductions. Professor Jonathan Carlson (Law) will serve as chair. (For a list of committee members, click here.)

In his announcement, President Skorton said, "We expect that further expenditure reductions will be required to balance the general education fund budget for the next fiscal year. A substantial portion of the reductions must be focused and guided strategically. With that in mind, I have initiated a process for budget reductions that will help solve the immediate budget difficulties, will help protect our core teaching and scholarly missions, and may enable very selective growth for our most critical academic initiatives."

The GEF Task Force is intended to provide broad-ranging input into this budget process which will be coordinated by the vice presidents group and the collegiate deans. The Task Force will evaluate programs suggested by the vice presidents and deans, propose other programs to be evaluated, and make recommendations for spending changes.

In addition to recommending cuts of GEF funding for selected programs, the Task Force may also recommend other steps to reduce costs or enhance revenues in connection with programs supported in whole or part by the GEF. In addition, the Task Force will be asked to offer suggestions to the provost, as part of an overall review led by the three Regent university provosts, for achieving cost savings by reducing academic program duplication.

The committee welcomes your suggestions for cost-saving measures. Please send your ideas to gef-taskforce-input@uiowa.edu.

Sources: University News Services news release 1/16/04
Memo from Patricia Cain 1/12/03