Stung by the midterm loss of $11.2 million in state subsidies, the University of Cincinnati on Friday said it will cut 2 percent from every academic and administrative department budget.

        “We're still working on the details but the broad outlines are falling into place,” UC spokesman Greg Hand said.

        President Joseph A. Steger gave the bad news to his vice presidents Friday morning.

        Next, their deans and department heads must do the cutting.

        Mr. Hand said they are likelier to leave vacancies open than to fire people.

        “But layoffs may hit next year,” he said. “We're assuming the same level of cut next year.”

        The cut evoked an angry response from the American Association of University Professors.

        “If UC was academically healthy, a cut like this would have minimal impact, but the administration has already cut us to the bone in previous years during good financial times,” said Joe W. Fisher, a mathematics professor and AAUP president. “These new cuts will be devastating to the educational mission of UC.”

        Of the $11.2 million reduction, $1.3 million in designated and restricted funds must be returned to the state.

        The remaining $9.9 million comes from UC's general fund/operating budget.

        Reducing departmental budgets will save $5.2 million, Mr. Hand continued, and $4.7 million will come from such central administration cuts as deferred maintenance.

        When the state cut $8 million earlier this year, UC reduced departmental spending and imposed a partial hiring freeze.

        A midyear tuition increase “has not been ruled out,” Mr. Hand warned. Each 1 percent of tuition brings in about $600,000, even after the extra burden forces some students to leave.

        UC hasn't socked students midyear since 1981-82 when a recession forced a 23.8 percent increase. . It was almost as bad the next year, a 19 percent increase.

        However, total enrollment increased in those years, just as it did this year when UC raised tuition 8 percent, Mr. Hand said.

        Reduced state subsidies reflect declining tax revenues attributed to the sagging economy.

        Meanwhile, there is a lull in contract negotiations as the faculty and administration seek a mediator to help resolve their impasse. The faculty wants a 20 percent pay increase over three years, against the administration's 8 percent offer.

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