Manhattan ? Programs may be eliminated and jobs left vacant as deans at Kansas State University look for ways to cut their budgets.

Among the more visible are the likely closure of the Small Business Development Center and reductions in agricultural programs.

	www.ksu.edu

Faced with a budget shortfall, Kansas lawmakers cut funding to the state’s universities for the fiscal year that began July 1.

The crunch being felt by Kansas State Research and Extension is even greater than on the main campus because it does not have tuition revenue to offset budget shortfalls.

In a recent memo, Marc Johnson, dean of the College of Agriculture and director of Kansas State Research and Extension, said 21 faculty positions would be eliminated 14 now and seven as soon as they are vacant. Another 13 classified positions also will be eliminated.

The college also is seeking approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to allow 30 people to retire early.

Those steps would reduce operating expenses by $1.6 million.

Meanwhile, Kansas State will withdraw from the regional Small Business Development Center when the only university employee retires at the end of the year, said Yar Ebadi, dean of the College of Business Administration.

“As far as we are concerned, (the center) will close,” Ebadi said, though it could move elsewhere.

The center is part of a statewide network and serves seven north-central Kansas counties: Clay, Dickinson, Geary, Marshall, Pottawatomie, Riley and Washington. It has one other full-time and two to three part-time positions, all of which are paid for by state and federal funds.

Ebadi also was one of several Kansas State deans who said positions would be left open and fewer sections of classes would be offered.

“A number of students will not be able to be accommodated,” he said.

Steve White, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said he would meet with heads of the college’s 25 programs to develop ways to deal with the budget crisis. More than half of all student credit hours are taught in Arts and Sciences.

Michael Holen, dean of the College of Education, predicted students would see bigger class sizes, would have more difficulty reaching advisers and would have less supervision.