MARQUETTE, MI-- NMU is looking at ways to reduce its budget by $8 million amid enrollment and funding uncertainties next fiscal year.
In an email to campus Tuesday Northern President Fritz Erickson said the COVID-19 pandemic has produced skyrocketing unemployment and plummeting state revenues. That could have a severe effect on next year’s enrollment. Erickson says a 10-percent decline next fall could be up to $8.7 million dollars in lost revenue.
In order to immediately reduce the budget, Erickson and NMU’s vice presidents, the Foundation CEO, dean of students, and assistant to the president are taking a 10-percent pay cut at least through the remainder of the fiscal year.
Also, each of the school’s division leaders has been asked to develop a contingency plan to reduce Northern’s budget by $8 million.
Erickson said right now officials need to have budget reduction options. He says no one knows what the actual shortfall might be.
