Eastern Virginia Medical School will shoulder a $500,000 state budget cut by trimming the salaries of its president and dean and leaving seven positions unfilled.
The school's finance director presented the proposed cuts Tuesday to the EVMS Board of Visitors, which approved them. Mark Babashanian, vice president for administration and finance, said five of the unfilled positions were in administration and support rather than clinical areas.
Two of the seven positions left unfilled were slots slated for new faculty to support growth of the school. "Our planning for growth will be delayed a little," Babashanian said.
EVMS President Harry Lester will take a 5 percent cut to his salary, and Dean Gerald Pepe will take a 3 percent cut. Babashanian said they each make about $300,000 a year. There also were reductions in operating expenses across the school's departments and a reduction in the school's modeling and simulation program.
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine asked state agencies and colleges to cut their budgets because of revenue shortfalls related to the downturn in the economy.
Lester told board members it was the second round of cuts the state has asked the school to make recently and that if the economy continues on its current path, there could be another next year.
He said, however, that the 5 percent cut was less than what some state agencies and colleges have had to make.
Elizabeth Simpson, (757) 446-2635, elizabeth.simpson@pilotonline.com
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