LSU's veterinary school takes new round of budget cuts

Baton Rouge, La.

-- Louisiana State University's (LSU) veterinary school is taking a $510,708 budget cut.

The action comes after the university announced state reductions to the school of $5.1 million. Since January 2009, the university lost $42 million in state appropriations.

In a recent statement by LSU, the most recent round of budget cuts will impact the veterinary school's Louisiana Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, which is already close to losing accreditation due to lack of state funding.

In addition, the school will suffer cuts to its Arbovirus Testing Program which will impact the control of human mosquito-borne diseases like West Nile virus and viral encephalitis.

According to a statement issued by the university, other university-wide budget reductions include:

- Change the source of funds for graduate assistant tuition exemptions on employing campuses, totaling nearly $1 million;

- Use funds generated by tuition and fees from a higher-than-expected freshman enrollment this fall, which LSU planned to use to temporarily increase classroom support, reduce section sizes and provide counseling and tutoring hours for students;

- Change the source of funding for the Academic Center for Student Athletes from the university to the Athletic Department.The new round of state cuts brings LSU’s losses to $47 million in just 22 months, the university reports.