James Madison University students are back to school, and the university's president is making it clear the budget will be a dominating factor in what programs move forward this semester.

In an e-mail to faculty and staff Monday JMU President Dr. Linwood Rose is addressing proposed budget cuts to the university.

Based on recommendations for a 15-percent budget cut from Gov. Tim Kaine, the school is looking at an $11.7-million cut in state funding.

When asked if there were plans regarding potential job cuts, university spokesperson Don Egle said, "There's two major areas that we are very, very committed to protecting. One is the personnel, and number two is the academic integrity."

The school is asking for budget amendments for two specific projects: the $91 million performing arts center that's under construction and the new School of Engineering.

It's still a year from opening, but there's concern about whether there will be enough money to fill JMU's new performing arts center with all the equipment the school was expecting.

"This [center] will open up all kinds of new possibilities of technical design and set design, and just all kinds of things to prepare the students to go out into the real, professional world," says Dr. George Sparks, dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

Dr. Ronald Kander is the director for the School of Engineering. He says the school needs the funding because engineering students will be trained to work on projects like infrastructure improvements. These are things the Obama administration is pushing in the hope of revitalizing the economy.

"As much as the short term budget shortfall is a problem, if you look at what we're trying to do strategically, we're actually positioned to really help in the economic recovery better than we would have been if we didn't have the engineering program in place," says Kander.

The engineering school welcomed it's first class of 120 students this fall. Kander says the school needs to hire another two to five professors to handle demand from students.

"I think the program itself at this point has to go forward," says Kander. "So, it will be a matter of the university having to say, 'What things would we not do in order to still move forward with the engineering program.'"

In his e-mail, Rose also says tuition increases will be looked at by the Board of Visitors in March. On top of all this, they're also forming budget committees in each of the school's divisions to see where to make specific cuts.

The General Assembly will look at these and other budget issues when the session begins Wednesday.