University of Toledo President Lloyd Jacobs cautioned there will be tough times ahead during a town hall meeting today, but offered strong optimism for the financial future of UT.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am confident, in fact, I am absolutely certain that we will get out of this,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it is imperative that we continue to think strategically.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jacobs said the extent to which the tough economic climate would affect UT\u2019s pocketbook in the short term is still unknown because Ohio\u2019s next biennial budget has yet to be compiled and completed.<\/p>\n
A possible shortfall at the state level of $7 billion, however, almost certainly will mean more layoffs at UT, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am deeply committed to reducing layoffs by all means necessary,\u201d Jacobs said. \u201cWe\u2019re working very hard to delete vacancies. It is more humanitarian to delete a vacant position than it is to delete a filled position.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jacobs also said the creation of small early retirement programs and an internal program for retraining those displaced for other positions at the University are under way.<\/p>\n
When Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland announces changes to Ohio\u2019s budget, Jacobs said he is hopeful the governor will protect the funding for higher education.<\/p>\n
\u201cGovernor Strickland and I agree that the only long-term solution to this problem is higher education,\u201d Jacobs said.<\/p>\n
Jacobs will offer more insights into UT\u2019s possible financial future Wednesday, Jan. 28, after watching a public viewing of Strickland\u2019s state of the state address at noon in Doermann Theater on Main Campus.
\nAlso at today\u2019s town hall meeting, the question was asked whether Jacobs would consider donating a longevity bonus he will receive in 2011 back to the University.<\/p>\n
He said he had considered it and offered a charge to the audience.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you don\u2019t think I\u2019m earning my salary, and I think I am, but if I\u2019m not earning my salary, you have the right to let the board of trustees or the governor know,\u201d he said, adding that he thinks he uses his earnings responsibly, including giving to UT.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut what I do with that salary once I have it,\u201d he said, \u201cthat\u2019s between God and me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The next town hall meeting will be held on Thursday, Feb. 5, at 4 p.m. in Health Education Building Room 100 on Health Science Campus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
UT President Lloyd Jacobs talked about budget issues at today’s town hall meeting and said he would offer more insight into the University’s financial future following a public viewing of the governor’s state of the state address Wednesday, Jan. 28, at noon in Doermann Theater.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,7,8],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}