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Saturday, Jan. 05, 2008

College presidents fear long-term effect of budget cut

For Kentucky's state universities and community colleges, the state's 3 percent budget cut is about as inviting as a walk down a dark alley.

It's almost impossible to see what lies ahead, but it provokes fear and could cause harm.

The danger, in the view of the college presidents, lies not in the 3 percent cut through the end of the current fiscal year, ending June 30.

The peril, they say, is the long-term effect of that cut plus another nearly certain cut for fiscal 2008-2009.

This could send post-secondary education into a stall just as it seemed to be picking up momentum to push toward the goals of Kentucky's higher education reform act of 1997.

The universities will need a "major infusion of new facilities and operating money" if they are to meet the reform goals by 2020, said Northern Kentucky University President James Votruba.

To meet the 3 percent cut, the colleges will go into hiring freezes; cut travel and expenses; and defer maintenance, among other measures. Another cut on top of that will require more drastic measures, the presidents said.

The Council on Postsecondary Education's budget recommendation for general fund dollars included a $120.8-million, or a 9.3 percent increase, for 2008-2009; and an additional $116.7 million, or 8.2 percent increase, for 2009-2010.

The recommended budget would reward the schools for increasing the number of bachelor's degree holders, as sought by the 1997 reform to increase the state's standard of living. The recommended budget would also add money for such initiatives as Bucks for Brains, which would provide as much as $200 million to be matched by private funds; and regional stewardship programs as part of the schools' outreach to their areas.

But the budget crisis could limit or put those efforts on hold, said State Rep. Harry Moberly, D-Richmond, chairman of the House budget committee.

Moberly, the executive vice president for administration at Eastern Kentucky University and a 28-year legislative veteran, said that the state shortfall was "an unprecedented crisis, the worst I've ever seen."

It also seems likely that new capital projects could be put on hold.

If so, this would mean, for example, that the University of Kentucky would not immediately get $75 million toward a new $100-million Gatton business school complex or $130 million toward a new $180-million health sciences research building.

EKU would not get $41.6 million for the second phase of a new science building. And the list goes on.

Moberly said post-secondary education is taking the brunt of the 3 percent cut so that K-12 could be spared. But with a deeper cut on the horizon for 2008-2010, he said, even K-12 would probably have to make cuts.

And reducing the K-12 budget would be the most disheartening part of the budget crisis, Moberly said, because it would erode the foundation of the state's entire education system.

Such dismal prospects are reflected in the observation by Morehead State University President Wayne Andrews that the state budget problem "is probably more serious than any of us still realize."

GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Postsecondary education to get plenty of attention this session

The General Assembly will also consider other legislation concerning post-secondary education, including the following:

• State Rep. Rick Nelson, D-Middlesboro, and State Rep. Tanya Pullin, D-South Shore, want to freeze tuition at the public universities and community colleges during the 2008-2010 biennium.

• Pullin and State Rep. Brent Yonts, D-Greenville, want to provide eligible students with state financial aid for the full cost of college, minus the amount of any federal and state grants and scholarships a student receives; Yonts' bill would require eligible students to avoid illegal use of drugs and alcohol.

• Nelson and State Rep. Carl Rollins, D-Midway, want to double the annual base amount of the Kentucky Education Excellence Scholarship to a $1,000 maximum for a perfect 4.0 high school grade-point-average and the annual supplemental amount to a $1,000 maximum for a score of 28 or higher (36 is perfect) on the ACT college entrance exam.