University of Hawaiçi-Mänoa department heads must plan to cut up to 6 percent from from their budgets and an unspecified number of UH employees may receive pink slips as early as Sept. 1, according to a memo from Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw sent out to the university this evening.

The UH system’s flagship campus is currently eyeing about $45 million in cuts this year, including cuts from the state Legislature and restrictions from Gov. Linda Lingle. Hinshaw said the university must immediately cut $14 million, on top of an earlier 4 percent reduction cut imposed on Mänoa programs and $20 million in other reduction in services and staff.
“There is no easy or painless way to achieve such rapid financial cuts, because it certainly involves additional reductions in staff and faculty — we all fully recognize and regret the damaging impact this inflicts on many careers, families and futures,” Hinshaw wrote.
As part of a plan to manage those cuts immediately, Hinshaw said Arts and Sciences programs, which includes most academic divisions, will be limited to a 2.5 percent cut to their department budgets. All other campus programs will take a 6 percent reduction.
It is too early to know what the effects of those cuts may be, said UH-Manoa Spokesman Gregg Takayama. Department heads will be asked to develop individual plans that will be submitted to their respective vice chancellors for review.
Already the Mänoa campus has not renewed about 150 adjunct instructors, nontenured faculty and administrative personnel, because of the budget reductions. More than 500 class sections are on hold, which could mean increased competition to get into courses, because of the reduced number of instructors.
This additional $14 million could potentially be alleviated through the equivalent of one-day-per month furloughs or 5 percent pay cuts, Hinshaw said. However, the university has not been able to negotiate those terms with public employee unions.
Manoa employees could potentially be notified in September in regards to “non-renewal of contracts” for the Spring 2010 semester in January, she said.
“If there is a comprehensive labor settlement in the near future, we would be able to significantly lessen these additional losses. However, we simply can’t wait any longer at this point in time, because the cuts become more severe if we continue to spend at current levels and then have to compress the cuts into a shorter time frame,” she wrote.
Across the system, UH faces trimming about $76 million from its annual $470 million budget next year. UH also expects $79 million in cuts in fiscal year 2011.
The budget cuts come as the university's campuses are experiencing record enrollment. Enrollment at all 10 campuses is expected to top 60,000 students in the fall, up from 53,500 last year. Only moderate increases in enrollment is expected at Manoa, officials have said.
Reach Loren Moreno at lmoreno@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2455.