By Kameron Dunn

This past December, all public colleges and universities in Oklahoma learned from the state that each institution’s budget would be cut by 6 percent between January and June of 2016.

For Southeastern, these cuts during these months would reduce the funds of the university by a total of $493,066.

Most of these funds “will be covered with an emergency modification of our Summer School compensation policy for faculty,” stated Alan Burton, Director of Communications at Southeastern.

This will result in a savings of $225,000 in June.

He also stated that a majority of these funds will also be covered by not replacing recently vacated positions at the university, such as the President’s Office Assistant, Academic Affairs Administrative Assistant and Director of International of Student Services.

These measures will provide a projected savings of $192,995.

“We also anticipate saving another $90,000 by reducing expenses in such areas as telecommunications and travel,” he said.

According to Burton, President Sean Burrage has stuck to his philosophy of making these decisions “with minimal impact on students.”

This past summer, President Burrage formed a Presidential Budget Advisory Committee in anticipation of budget cuts. This committee is made up of faculty and staff of SE, who met frequently in the fall to discuss options the university could take to deal with the budget cuts.

The committee is expected to meet during the spring semester to continue to aid the president.

In addition, the university is finding new ways to increase its funding from other sources.

The university has hired Mark Webb, the new Director of University Development, who is working to bring private funds to the university through scholarships and gifts.

“We also expect to see significant growth in our online master’s degree programs in business,” Burton said, in reference to the university’s recent work with a company named Academic Partners who aims to bolster SE’s marketing, admissions and enrollment services.

“Colleges and universities across the state and nation are facing similar decisions when it comes to budgeting and funding,” he stated. “It is certainly not a situation unique to Southeastern.”