KEARNEY, Neb. — Painful but not drastic. 

That’s how University of Nebraska Kearney chancellor Doug Kristensen described $4.3 million in cuts coming to his campus. He addressed a standing room only crowd of hundreds at the UNK student union on Monday. Kristensen stressed that the cuts aren’t changing the big picture look of the school and were made with input from all academic departments. 

Still, the proposed cuts come with plenty of hurt for affected students and faculty. 

“I’m just wondering how we are doing the least amount of damage by removing entire departments,” one student said.

“I think I speak for a lot of us, (we) are so disappointed that we have not felt more support from our administrators,” a theatre student said.

Much of the pushback came from music and theatre students. Their programs will be phased out, along with recreation management and the geography department. After initially proposing to eliminate 35 faculty positions in its first draft, UNK reduced the cuts to 24.5 positions — half of which are currently open.

“It’s part of an overall plan that we’re going to take some from retirements, we’re going to take some open positions, we’re going to look at maybe even some other ways to restructure to save within the departments,” Kristensen said.

All of the programs being discontinued failed to meet a state commission’s minimum performance standard of at least seven degrees awarded per year.

“A percentage of our departments, our numbers are way too small, Kristensen said. "They’re not defensible. They’re great, but they make no practical sense given short budgets, given efficiencies.”

UNK’s $4.3 million deficit is part of a university system wide $58 million budget shortfall that Kristensen says is fueled by declining enrollments and rising personnel costs. 

UNK is also considering recommendations to reduce $2 million across non-academic areas.

“I think we’re going to have to methodically look at each one of our areas and tell ourselves, ‘how can I do it differently?’”

With emotions high, Kristensen and Department of Music, Theatre and Dance chair Sharon Campbell emphasized the cuts are not a reflection on students or faculty.

“That doesn’t mean they aren’t important, that doesn’t mean that the faculty didn’t do a good job, that doesn’t mean that we don’t value what they’re doing and how they do it,” Kristensen said.

“You matter. Your passion for theatre matters," Campbell said. "You have made made amazing contributions.”

UNK leadership will present its budget plan to University President Ted Carter on December 1. Employees will find out in the spring if their position is being eliminated. They will still be able to stay in their jobs through May of 2025. 

Students enrolled in programs that are being eliminated will still have the opportunity to fulfill their graduation requirements.

The following nine degrees are set for elimination, pending University of Nebraska Board of Regents approval:

·      Business Intelligence Emphasis BS

·      Geography BS/BA

·      Geography and GIScience BS

·      Geography 7-12 Teaching Subject Endorsement BA

·      Musical Theater BM

·      Recreation Management BS

·      Recreation, Outdoor and Event Management BS

·      Theater BA

The breakdown of faculty positions to be eliminated is as follows:

·      Theater – 4

·      English – 3.5

·      Music – 3

·      Communication, Cyber Systems, Math & Statistics, Modern Languages – 2 each

·      Art & Design, History, Kinesiology & Sport Sciences, Montessori Early Childhood, Philosophy, Physics & Astronomy – 1 each

The university is also undertaking zero-based budget reviews and considering recommendations to reduce $2 million across various areas that include:

·      Administrative Reduction - $400,000

·      UNK Global - $400,000

·      Enrollment Management, Marketing & Student Affairs - $300,000

·      Office Associate Redeployment - $300,000

·      Division of Business & Finance - $200,000

·      Intercollegiate Athletics - $200,000

·      Departmental Operating Funds - $120,000

·      Calvin T. Ryan Library – $80,000