There are few venues in public life where money, sports, politics and policy combine with as much volatility as at a major public university. Given the sheer size of The University of Texas at Austin, President William Powers finds himself constantly in the news.
Powers sat down with KUT"s David Brown to talk about the future of the most lucrative collegiate athletic program in the country, the school's "thin" budget and potential job cuts that could reduce UT's workforce by 20 percent.
Just this week, news broke of an announcement he鈥檚 assembling a team to find a new athletic director to replace DeLoss Dodds, who announced his retirement earlier this month.
鈥淎ny time you bring in a new person, whether it鈥檚 a dean, vice president or athletic director, there鈥檚 going to be some change,鈥� Powers said. 鈥淧eople bring in fresh ideas. I thinkDeLosscertainly built a tremendous edifice. I鈥檓 sure there will be a change here and there but this is not a rebuilding kind of situation.鈥�
While Powers added that he doesn鈥檛 have any 鈥減reconditions鈥� on where the candidate should come from, there were some criteria he鈥檇 want to focus on.
鈥淲e run a program with integrity. Certainly an understanding of the student athlete, an understanding of college athletics and the business of college athletics is important.鈥�
Other recent news surrounding UT had to do with the press release from the Texas State Employees Union, which stated UT plans to eliminate 500 jobs, or about 20 percent of the university鈥檚 workforce. Powers explained that the 鈥� 鈥� project isn鈥檛 about privatizing, but sharing resources.
Due to a 鈥渢hin budget鈥� that鈥檚 diminished over the past few years, Powers said the university has lost full-time equivalents (FTEs), mostly through attrition.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the budget that鈥檚 driving this. When budgets go, the only way we can react to budgets is in full-time equivalents. About 80 percent of our budget is payroll.鈥�
鈥淭he current work is on shared services. As an example, if we have 100 people across campus in individual units doing HR and we can do it with 70 people in a centralized unit, that鈥檚 a way we can meet what are externally shortfalls in our budget. This project is not designed to export those functions to private companies.鈥�
The resulting savings will take some time to take effect. Due to aging IT systems that will need upgrades, Powers says, the university will put in an initial investment that when paid back, is expected to result in savings of $30 million-$40 million.
鈥淲e鈥檒l put that money back into faculty, lecturers and the academic enterprise,鈥� he said.
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