GAINESVILLE, Fla.—When the Florida Legislature and Governor Jeb Bush produce an official revised state budget based on Florida’s severe state revenue shortfall, several units of the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) will be forced into closure and/or relocation, downsizing and consolidation.
UF/IFAS has started the process of alerting those faculty and staff affected and agricultural and natural resource industry leaders of the impending cuts, which come as a direct result of specific legislative reductions to the UF/IFAS research and extension budget.
“Coupled with the previous $2.6 million in cuts received by UF/IFAS at the beginning of this fiscal year, additional deep cuts to the UF/IFAS budget proposed by the House and Senate during the first special session will result in immediate layoffs and facility closures statewide,” said Mike Martin, UF vice president for agriculture and natural resources.
“It might be possible to avoid immediate closures and layoffs if actual new cuts do not exceed $2.0 million on top of what’s already been made,” Martin said. “In avoiding immediate closures, UF/IFAS would be in a position this fiscal year to begin an orderly transition of reorganization and consolidation of facilities throughout the state.”
Martin indicated that several facilities in Gainesville and throughout the state are being evaluated for closure, relocation or consolidation. UF/IFAS facilities facing potential closure include the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center at Bradenton, an aquaculture demonstration facility at Blountstown, the Hastings Research and Education Center, the North Florida research and education facility at Monticello, some 4-H camps and the Poultry Research Unit in Gainesville.
Other UF/IFAS units facing relocation, downsizing, or consolidation include the West Florida Research and Education Center at Jay, the Ft. Lauderdale Research and Education Center and the Dover strawberry facility. The Horticultural Unit and the Center for Tropical Agriculture in Gainesville also are slated for relocation.
“We view this to be an inopportune time to disinvest in the agricultural and natural resource industries, which are major parts of the state’s economy. However, the proposed cuts leave us little choice,” Martin said.
“We think it’s critical to not delay providing this information to affected employees in order to provide a maximum amount of notice and a minimum of disruption of the lives of the employees and their families,” he said.
Martin said that each affected employee will be given the opportunity for personal counseling. In those cases where jobs are lost, UF/IFAS will provide assistance in helping personnel locate new employment opportunities. According to Martin, UF/IFAS will provide moving expenses for personnel being relocated and will attempt to accommodate programmatic needs of research and education programs.
Additional details on UF/IFAS reductions will be released when the governor and the legislature announce the final state budget reductions.
-30-
0
