BISMARCK -- North Dakota State University’s budget could faces total cuts of 26.55 percent if all proposed budget trimming measures are adopted for the 2017-19 budget now being shaped.

NDSU President Dean Bresciani warmed legislators Wednesday, Jan. 18, that slashing the university’s budget that deeply could force staff cuts that would fall heavily on faculty and teaching support staff. Personnel costs account for three-quarters of NDSU’s budget, he said.

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“It really boils down to cuts in personnel which are cuts to our ability to perform in contributing to the state’s success,” Bresciani said.

"The realities that we have to face is that when we start cutting into faculty positions, that means our students are going to be in classes that are larger than they are now, if they're able to get the class at all," he added. "Their time to degree completion is going to be delayed, and that's going to have a fairly direct impact on the business sustainability and growth of business in the state of North Dakota."

The potential reduction includes 6.55 percent cuts already made to its 2015-17 budget, as well as proposed cuts for 2017-19 of 15 percent advocated by former Gov. Jack Dalrymple and an additional 5 percent trim recommended by Gov. Doug Burgum.

Nearly all state agencies are being forced to cut spending to help solve North Dakota’s budget crisis, caused largely by slumping tax revenue due to downturns in the oil and agricultural industries. The two-year budgets lawmakers will set this session will take effect in July.

NDSU administrators appeared Wednesday before the Senate Appropriations Committee to outline their spending priorities, including a request for $49.1 million to replace Dunbar Hall, a recognized safety hazard that houses the university’s chemistry and biochemistry programs -- a project not included in gubernatorial budget recommendations..

In an interview following his committee remarks, made as legislators start the lengthy process of assembling the 2017-19 budget for the state’s 11 public higher education campuses, Bresciani expressed optimism that the full brunt of proposed cuts will not be implemented.

But Bresciani repeatedly cautioned that it is early, and there are many unanswered questions involving which of many budget proposals and variations legislators ultimately will favor. He said it isn’t yet clear, for example, whether lawmakers will consider the 6.55 percent cuts to the 2015-17 budget a one-time reduction or ongoing.

At NDSU, the 6.55 percent in cuts totaled $10.3 million. To meet cuts of 10 percent, Dalrymple’s initial recommendation for the 2017-19 budget, NDSU has identified reductions of $15.7 million, including salary and benefit savings of almost $12.8 million and the equivalent of 95 full-time positions through buyouts and unfilled openings. Last fall, NDSU officials said it wouldn’t need to resort to layoffs to handle the 10 percent cut.

The State Board of Higher Education’s 2017-19 budget request for NDSU was $160 million, which would be reduced to $138.2 million under the governor’s recommendations, figures that do not include the requested $49.1 million for a Dunbar Hall replacement.

Dalrymple had suggested the possibility of a 5 percent tuition increase to soften the budget cuts, but Bresciani said it isn’t a given that legislators would go along with a tuition hike.

“There’s just not a clear sense of legislative intent this early in the session,” he said.

He added legislators are just getting started in drafting the budget. “They’re just trying to get their arms around the budget they’re going to have to work on,” Bresciani said.

Noting that this is his third legislative session, Bresciani said he has detected a “sense of camaraderie and shared responsibility” as legislators and higher education administrators sort through a challenging budget process.

Forum News Service reporter John Hageman contributed to this report.