Olympia Update No. 4 for the 2002 Legislative Session
February 1, 2002
From: Larry Ganders and Jane Yung Dennie, Government Relations
Washington State University
925 Plum St. SE - Building 4
Olympia, Washington 98504-3165
WSU urges legislators to minimize cuts,
maximize flexibility to survive recession
To preserve quality programs through a period of
scarce state revenues, WSU is urging state legislators to cut no more than 3
percent from its base budget and provide maximum flexibility to address the
reductions. The governor’s proposed budget cuts the university’s budget by
5% or $10.5 million.
Here are
points the university is urging legislators to consider:
1. WSU
has already made substantial cuts and faces more reductions.
In most biennia during the past decade, there have been cuts to the
WSU’s base program budget, even when legislative decisions were made to
increase enrollments or salaries. Just last year, the university was cut
$4.7 million.
·
WSU took the entire $4.7 million
cut centrally. Departments were
protected as they were dealing with increasing numbers of students.
WSU is overenrolled at all four campuses.
·
In addition, every instructional
college reallocated 3 percent of the budget to high priority programs.
That reallocation absorbed any remaining departmental flexibility.
·
So-called “non-instructional
areas” have also been hardest hit during the last ten years as lawmakers
dictated that instruction be protected. Everything from library journals to
laboratory materials to student services faced repeated cuts.
·
In addition to the $4.7 million
cut, the University must cut another $4.3 million that won’t appear in any
budget figures. Some are the same
as all other state agencies such as energy.
Some will hit WSU especially hard – the un-funded portion of salary
increases ($1 million), and $1.2 million in maintenance and utilities for new
buildings.
·
WSU opened two new classroom
buildings without receiving adequate funding for maintenance and operation. One
is the Smith Center for Undergraduate Education in Pullman. The second is the
Health Sciences building co-occupied by Eastern Washington University in
Spokane. WSU has a supplemental request to cover funding for these two
buildings, supported by EWU.
·
Additional cuts will force
departments to eliminate part-time lecturers and TAs who help with small group
lab sections, while at the same time meeting increased enrollment.
This directly impacts the number of classes available to students and the
quality of instruction.
·
These reductions are being
considered at the same time WSU is well-positioned to meet economic needs of the
state, such as the need for bachelor trained nurses.
The College of Nursing turned away half of its qualified applicants, yet
faces a 5 percent cut this year in the governor’s proposed budget.
- WSU
is deeply concerned about the trend of declining funds for higher education
in Washington.
·
When comparing the change in state
funding to comparable land grant institutions across the country
through the 1990s, WSU ranks 21 out of 23 in state appropriations for
full-time student (adjusted for inflation).
·
State support is a shrinking
proportion of higher education budgets. In the 1991 – 93 biennium, the state funded 73% of
undergraduate instructional costs. If
the governor’s supplemental budget were to pass, it would be at 51%.
·
The January edition of
Postsecondary Education Opportunity recently reported the rise and fall of state
investment in higher education from FY 1962 to 2002. It concluded, "...
state higher education investment effort reached all time lows in three states
in FY2002: Colorado, New Hampshire and Washington.
In these three states, tax fund appropriations for higher education per
$1000 of state personal income were lower than they had been at any time in the
last 41 years."
- Flexibility.
WSU supports the
governor’s proposal to give institutions flexibility to increase tuition
to protect quality. WSU also
requests flexibility on all fronts in managing our cuts—in allowing us to
decide where to take them, and in tuition. Flexibility will allow us to preserve the quality of our
programs. Losing quality now may leave the state vulnerable when it emerges
from the recession and needs universities to help grow the economy. While
tuition can not offset all cuts, a tuition increase in one year may be
better for students. The alternative would be to lose exceptional faculty or
eliminate classes critical to graduation.
4.
Capital Budget WSU supports the governor’s economic stimulus
package that provides critical infrastructure improvements.
While not major high-visibility projects, they immediately provide new
construction jobs to stimulate the economy. Projects include the FO Berg
building in Spokane and water system at WSU Prosser. We are also well under way
with the multi media building in Vancouver and shock physics in Pullman. Two
projects that were funded in the 2001 – 03 capital budget were shifted to a
different funding source: Murrow
and Energy Plant are now funded with education construction account bonds rather
than the state general fund.
This update is shared by broadcast fax and electronic mail to friends of Washington State University as government developments occur. Contact Kevin Ketchie, WSU Government Relations specialist, 509/335-6292 to be added to the list. Call Larry Ganders at 360-956-2165; From WSU Campuses, Dial 8-2165. E-mail: Ganders@energy.wsu.edu. Contact Jane Yung Dennie at 360-956-2164. For federal issues, contact Kristi Growdon at 206-219-2424. For state bill status, budget updates, and other government info, visit our improving web page at www.olympia.wsu.edu.
