Since this represented a $9 million drop, and the university was only aiming to cut $5 million, $4 million was distributed among the departments as “strategic investments” for teaching.

The students, faculty and staff involved in the process “did not want to see simple numbers driving a set of decisions,” Harbor said. “They wanted to see a much more strategic approach, used to make sure we were looking carefully at the future success of the university. “We are now asking the groups of people who know our programs best, which is the faculty in the units, to make their plans," Harbor said. He also noted that departments had several options, including eliminating or consolidating classes and seeking outside funding, in meeting their targets.

“There are many mechanisms to come up with those dollars,” agreed Mark Pershouse, an associate professor in the Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and a member of the Faculty Senate.

If and when it comes to reducing faculty, he said that “there’s hope there were … people planning to retire. If not, the decisions become much more difficult” — and lengthy, given the process required to remove tenured faculty.

His colleagues around campus are already gauging the budget goals’ impact.