Cornell task force report highlights some cost savings

Ithaca, N.Y.

-- A new task force report conducted by Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine has reveals several ways to cut costs, including changing the way courses are taught.

Nearly $300,000 in savings could come from keeping veterinary school instructors from teaching undergraduate science courses, according to the report. Seven members of the Department of Biomedical Sciences and five faculty members from the Department of Microbiology teach a combined 550 undergraduate students, but they are paid from the veterinary school budget, not the undergraduate budget.

Additionally, a review of course offerings could yield as much as $10,000 in savings, according to the report. Staffing at the veterinary library also will be visited in cost-saving measures, and school reports indicate there is talk at the administrative levels of Cornell about closing the veterinary library altogether.

Cost savings of $480,000 already were achieved through maintaining job vacancies and other measures plus $380,000 in personnel reduction at the Animal Health Diagnostic Center, which saw a loss of 25 percent of its state funding last year. The Cornell University Hospital for Animals also has cut 10 percent of its workforce for a savings of $600,000, but still may end up with a $2.45 million deficit by the end of 2010, according to the task report.

In its annual report, Cornell touted that, although it started the year facing a $5 million deficit, the college ended the year with only a $1 million deficit through careful planning.