By Joseph Lyell —
Jonathan Pruitt, hired as chief finance officer in November 2017, will not be coming to the University of Louisville. Interim President Greg Postel made the announcement at the faculty senate’s Jan. 10 meeting.
“He called last night to tell me he took a job in North Carolina,” Postel said. Pruitt told Postel he took the job so he could remain close to his eight-year-old daughter.
“I’ve got two seven-year-old boys, so I get it. But on the other hand, he was supposed to start on Monday,” Postel said.
University Spokesperson John Karman said Susan Howarth will continue to serve as the interim CFO while the university restarts the search process for the position.
Postel said he expects budget cuts to be announced during Governor Matt Bevin’s upcoming address.
“The state of Kentucky is in trouble,” Postel said.
The deferred funding for the state pension system leaves a shortfall in the budget that is five or six times the total annual revenue accrued by the state.
“It’s a multi-year fix. It may be a multi-decade fix, given the size of the problem,” Postel said.
Postel plans to attend Bevin’s address in Frankfort on Jan. 16.
“I’m not looking forward to it, because I think it’s going to be a rather tough message that he delivers,” Postel said.
Bevin announced last month Ken
tucky faces a $156 million shortfall in 2018, affecting post-secondary institutions across the state. U of L planned for a one percent mid-year cut totaling over one million dollars.
“But now they’re saying we could have an additional 17 percent cut in July. That’s $22.5 million for us, so that is not a trivial problem,” Postel said.
Administration plans to prepare for worst case scenario to be conservative. U of L is on track with this year’s current budget.
Photo by Nicholas Long / The Louisville Cardinal
