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Governor Beshear has already proposed an immediate 3% cut for the universities and colleges of Kentucky for this year’s operational budgets. This is bad news for the business of college education in Kentucky. However, this is not the end of the story. It can only get worse.
The Kentucky university presidents are scheduled to testify in Frankfort on Thursday (01-31-08) before the House Budget and Subcommittee on Administration to outline their budget needs and priorities to the legislators. A good statement as to the severity of the coming higher education budget cuts for Kentucky universities was expressed on Friday (01-25-08) before the Kentucky State Board of Regents.
Kentucky State University President, Mary Evans Sias spoke to the KSU Board of Regents about the money crisis. She explained just how far the Governor’s proposed budget cuts would impact KSU.
Below is a summary of her comments. What she outlines are points that all Kentucky universities will have to address in the coming months.
1. “The bottom line is 3 % is devastating, but when you’re talking about a 7% or a 12% cut you’re looking at a fundamental change at Kentucky State University.”
2. Even with a 3% or $823,300 cut, it’s more like a 6% cut because half of the fiscal year is already complete.
3. Increased class size will be one of the first adjustments made to meet budget needs.
4. Graduation requirements and credit hours will have to be examined in an effort to get students out of KSU with degrees in four years. Taking longer than four years to graduate is more expensive for students as well as the school.
5. Administration would consider deferring some maintenance projects as well as reprioritizing the importance of campus safety and emergency preparation initiatives.
6. The university will save more money by upping its efficiency by using coal-fired heat instead of gas because it is less expensive.
7. Printing documents on campus rather than sending them out to printing companies will also have to be looked at for saving money.
8. Last areas to be cut would be developmental education for the 81% of students who come in to school needing remedial courses and need based financial assistance for students.
President Sias ended her presentation to the KSU Board of Regents with these thoughts,
“Across the board, state agencies are cutting between 0.1% and 22% from their budgets. It is critically important to understand that out of the cuts called for, higher education has been asked to make up 44% of the reduction. This number is unreal because higher education only accounts for 12% of the state’s overall budget.”