UC Davis outlines funding cuts, postponed building project

Davis, Calif.

-- States facing budget constraints are increasingly looking at higher education to help close their deficits, and the University of California-Davis is no exception.

The UC-Davis School of Veterinary Medicine recently reported that they are working to absorb a $2.1 million cut in funding from the state of California for the current fiscal year, and a $1.8 million reduction for the 2009-10 fiscal year.

No concrete plans have been made, but school officials say they are looking at every part of the veterinary medicine program. Savings could come from restructuring and/or eliminating positions, programs and services "not directly tied to the school's core teaching mission."

Also affected by the cuts is construction on Veterinary Medicine III B, a new research facility the university had hoped to begin building in 2009. Its predecessor, Veterinary Medicine III A, opened in 2007. The building is expected to cost more than $95 million and would house new research laboratories and offices for about 55 faculty members now working in the outdated Haring Hall.

Though construction of Veterinary Medicine III B has been approved and funded by the state legislature, the state financial crisis has stalled the project indefinitely, according to the school.