Statement
from UW's Mark Emmert and WSU's Lane Rawlins:
In Response
to Governor Locke's 2005-07 Budget Proposal
We
greatly appreciate Gov. Gary Locke’s efforts in his 2005-07 budget proposal
to protect existing higher education programs, but we are concerned that
his plan fails to address issues critical to the future of higher education
in this state.
From
our point of view, there are clearly positives to the Governor’s budget
plan. We appreciate his efforts to protect the research universities
from cuts in the face of a projected $1.8 billion deficit and his efforts
to begin addressing some of the critical funding issues facing our research
universities. As we have stressed repeatedly, adequate funding is vital
to our ability to provide the educational opportunities our children deserve
and to fuel the economic future of our state. We believe that the Governor’s
budget proposal recognizes the importance of these issues.
The
governor’s funding of our collective bargaining agreements and salary
increases for faculty and professional staff is a positive step, as our
ability to provide competitive salaries has eroded significantly over
the last four years when no salary increases were funded. The governor’s
recognition of the need for state support of our research mission is also
a significant step in the right direction, although the amount provided
is far short of what we need and what other states invest in their research
universities.
While
these steps signal an understanding of the central role our research universities
should play in driving our economy and helping maintain Washington’s competitive
position, the level of funding provided falls woefully short of what is
needed. This budget proposal leaves some very important issues unresolved
at a time when higher education institutions in Washington, particularly
the research universities, are unable to respond to many of the demands
that are being made of them.
Primary
among our concerns is the capital construction budget. There is no funding
for critical expansion projects at UW Bothell, UW Tacoma, and WSU Spokane
that are essential to address the state’s access problem. In addition,
funding for critical restoration projects on the Seattle campus has been
reduced, funding for future restoration projects has been completely eliminated,
and a wastewater re-use project in Pullman was left in limbo. A bio-products
research facility in the Tri-Cities in partnership with Pacific Northwest
National Laboratories is not funded, delaying implementation of important
research and instruction programs for state economic development.
We
will work with the new governor and the Legislature to encourage them
to find additional capital funding that will allow the state to finance
more projects on the prioritized list that has been agreed upon by all
of the four-year institutions.
We
are also concerned that this budget provides no funding for growth in
enrollments at any of the seven UW and WSU campuses at a time when the
state’s higher education system cannot meet the demand for access to four
year degrees. The governor acknowledged at his press conference Thursday
that “the demand to get into our state colleges and universities will
be bigger and stronger than ever before.” He noted there will be 5,000
more high school graduates over the next 2-3 years and that there already
is only limited capacity to transfer from community colleges to 4 year
universities in Washington.
The
existing four-year institutions cannot now and will not in the future
be able to provide enough spaces for students coming out of our state’s
high schools and community colleges without more state-funded enrollments.
Significant omissions in the governor’s proposed capital and operating
budgets will prevent expansion at Bothell, Tacoma, Tri-Cities, Vancouver
and Spokane that would have addressed the growing demand for access.
The
financial aid proposal in this budget also raises questions. It apparently
does not maintain the state general fund’s historic commitment to fully
fund student financial aid. We believe this proposal will make it more
difficult for us to provide financial aid to those students who need it.
The
governor’s budget proposal is better than recent biennial budgets, and
we hope that it reflects a growing understanding of the role of research
universities in building the economy of our state. Nevertheless, the
UW and WSU still face substantial issues in providing access to four-year
degrees for qualified students and in closing the gap with our peer institutions
in per-student funding. We look forward to working with state government
leaders in addressing these issues in the upcoming budget process.
