In anticipation of a $33 million budget cut, the chancellor of the University of Hawai'i-Manoa campus yesterday announced plans to slash spending that could eliminate hundreds of non-tenured positions and reduce the number of courses and programs.

Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw yesterday instructed UH-Manoa administrators to cut their budgets by 4 percent in preparation for the shortfall. The state House recently approved a budget that calls for a $33 million cut in general funds for UH-Manoa, which would represent a 13 percent reduction of its $256 million general fund budget.

The 4 percent cuts would save UH $11 million, but may require the termination of "a significant number of personnel, particularly lecturers and temporary staff," Hinshaw said.

UH spokesman Gregg Takayama said it's too soon to say how many people would be affected, but "it's probably safe to say it could be in the hundreds." The cuts would not affect tenured staff, such as professors, he said.

Takayama said the university has yet to determine how it will make up the balance of the cuts, or $22 million. He said that could be done through a "combination of things," such as diverting tuition revenues and research funds, and closing offices and programs.

Hinshaw said the cuts will be done "strategically" and not across the board. Some programs will be exempt from the reductions, she said, including security, facilities repair and maintenance, and the new School of Hawaiian Knowledge.

Hinshaw said she hopes to have as little impact on school services as possible, but acknowledged that programs and jobs will likely be lost.

"At this level of reduction, we are facing a significant challenge, particularly with regard to maintaining the number of people we support on general funds," she said. "If we have fewer people providing services to students, faculty and staff, that will impact in many ways, from offering fewer sections of classes to less administrative support."

Although the Legislature has yet to finalize the budget, Hinshaw said she's taking steps now to prepare for the fall semester.

"Reductions of this magnitude require that we take painful steps now to prepare for reduced resources in the next two fiscal years, beginning this July 1st," Hinshaw said.

Joseph O'Mealy, an English professor and interim dean of the College of Languages, Linguistics, and Literature, said he and the other deans have been meeting regularly to come up with a way to make the cuts without significantly affecting services. He said they have yet to come up with a definitive plan, but said the clock is ticking because students begin registering for the fall semester at the end of this month.

O'Mealy said a 4 percent cut to his college's instructional budget would represent about $750,000. He said the college has about 70 lecturers and 30 others who are on temporary contract, but said no decision has been made as to how many will be retained.

O'Mealy said the cuts also could mean fewer courses, larger class sizes and heavier workloads for teachers.

"We keep weighing different ways of doing this and none of them is particularly appealing," O'Mealy said. "We're in this delicate balancing act between having to face certain harsh realities, and also being sensitive to the needs of students and the lives of the people who work for us who deserve to be treated well."