Faculty discuss future budget concerns
Alexia Lang
Issue date: 11/9/09 Section: News
A possible cut in state funding issued to the University of Missouri System next year has some faculty worried.
Chancellor Leo Morton spoke to the UMKC Faculty Senate at its regular meeting Tuesday, updating the group on discussions underway about the issue and the potential impact a cut would have on UMKC.
"It was a tough year in the state of Missouri," Morton said. "I don't think anybody disagrees with that. Revenues were about 10 percent below expectations - and the expectations were not good."
Morton said the University of Missouri (UM) System President Gary Forsee is working directly with Gov. Jay Nixon to prepare for next year.
Tuesday morning, Morton participated in a conference call with other higher education leaders across the state and representatives from Nixon's office.
"The message this morning was that while they have cut 10 percent off of everything else, they have not cut support for higher education," he said. "We know that a part of that is backed by stimulus dollars, which is a concern we all have."
Currently, the UM System as a whole is trying to get a feel for what might happen in the future so plans can be made accordingly.
"The governor would like to continue next year without an increase in tuition," Morton said. "The issue of fees is kind of open. He also talked about a small amount of capital to support construction."
The concern about keeping tuition level is that state support is not expected to stay the same.
"Now put this together," Morton said, "5 percent reduction in state support - for us that's about $4.2 million - add that to some other things like raises, then you add some increases to things like utilities that we need to continue to pay and it all adds up. So, I don't want anybody to get excited about that, but I'll tell you that you have a great budget committee that's working in a number of ways to get us organized to address this."
Hali Fieldman, vice chair of the Faculty Senate and instructor at the Conservatory, wondered how the university would be affected if a salary increase is mandated and there is no state funding to support it.
Chancellor Leo Morton spoke to the UMKC Faculty Senate at its regular meeting Tuesday, updating the group on discussions underway about the issue and the potential impact a cut would have on UMKC.
"It was a tough year in the state of Missouri," Morton said. "I don't think anybody disagrees with that. Revenues were about 10 percent below expectations - and the expectations were not good."
Morton said the University of Missouri (UM) System President Gary Forsee is working directly with Gov. Jay Nixon to prepare for next year.
Tuesday morning, Morton participated in a conference call with other higher education leaders across the state and representatives from Nixon's office.
"The message this morning was that while they have cut 10 percent off of everything else, they have not cut support for higher education," he said. "We know that a part of that is backed by stimulus dollars, which is a concern we all have."
Currently, the UM System as a whole is trying to get a feel for what might happen in the future so plans can be made accordingly.
"The governor would like to continue next year without an increase in tuition," Morton said. "The issue of fees is kind of open. He also talked about a small amount of capital to support construction."
The concern about keeping tuition level is that state support is not expected to stay the same.
"Now put this together," Morton said, "5 percent reduction in state support - for us that's about $4.2 million - add that to some other things like raises, then you add some increases to things like utilities that we need to continue to pay and it all adds up. So, I don't want anybody to get excited about that, but I'll tell you that you have a great budget committee that's working in a number of ways to get us organized to address this."
Hali Fieldman, vice chair of the Faculty Senate and instructor at the Conservatory, wondered how the university would be affected if a salary increase is mandated and there is no state funding to support it.
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