Presidential Blog

Dear Faculty, Staff, and Students:

Over the last several months, people from across our campuses have submitted many valuable cost-saving suggestions to help our University weather the economic downturn. I am deeply appreciative of all those who have taken the time to share their thoughts and ideas. I write now to update you on the actions we have taken in response to these thoughtful suggestions.

I received many suggestions related to energy savings, ranging from turning off unneeded lights to converting campus buildings into energy sources by adding solar or green rooftops. All of these ideas are now with our Finance and Facilities offices undergoing feasibility study and cost-benefit analysis. Those that we can implement — in addition to our already robust energy savings program — we will. Not only will we save money, we will help the planet.

Continue reading “Your ideas for saving money and finding efficiencies”

Dear students, faculty and staff:

Over the weekend, the Legislature completed the unenviable task of writing and passing a biennial budget during the worst economic period in decades. Any budget that must bridge a biennial shortfall of $9 billion is bound to please no one and to result in serious consequences for the state.

For the University of Washington, the resulting budget decisions are dramatic. The bad news is that the Legislature decided to reduce state funding to the six public four-year college and universities more than any other sector in state government. The University of Washington received the highest percentage cut in all of higher education-26 percent. This is a stark and sobering number.

Continue reading “The 2009-11 state budget for the UW”

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff:

By now most of you have heard about the potential need to increase tuition because of the severe cuts in our state support. I am writing to clarify why this may need to happen and to explain the potential impacts.

Nobody, certainly not me, likes to raise tuition. We support a significant increase only because of the extraordinary circumstances in which we find ourselves. The proposed cuts to higher education in our state are enormous, ranging from 23 percent in the Senate’s proposal to 31 percent in the House’s. Reductions of this magnitude would eliminate 10,000 student openings across higher education in the state, while at the same time significantly increasing the time it takes for students to receive their degrees. Instead of graduating on time, students would have to stay—and pay tuition for—an extra quarter or two to get the classes they need to graduate. Moreover, without some partial relief, these cuts would greatly diminish the quality of the educational experience at the UW. There would be larger classes, fewer courses offered, and fewer support services available to students, including advising.

Continue reading “The state budget and UW tuition”

Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff:

As you have likely heard, the Washington State Senate and House of Representatives earlier this week released their operating budget proposals for the 2009-2011 biennium. While we expected significant new cuts, the Legislative budget reductions are dramatic and disturbing. All of higher education will be severely impacted should these proposals pass. For the University of Washington, the Senate has proposed a state budget cut of nearly 23 percent, or $189 million, while the House has proposed even deeper cuts of 31 percent, or $260 million. These cuts are worse than we had anticipated, and although they could be mitigated somewhat with federal stimulus funds and tuition increases, they still represent a serious challenge to our ability to serve our state.

If the Senate and House proposals were passed in their present forms, we would see severe impacts across our University community. We would have to significantly reduce the number of students admitted to the University just when we have the highest demand in history. Likewise, because there would be fewer course offerings and fewer staff to provide students services, it would take students longer to complete their degrees. On the research front, our longstanding success in competing for research dollars would be jeopardized, resulting in further losses of jobs and the ensuing detrimental effect on the state’s economy. Also, the only way to manage such large budget cuts would be to eliminate jobs across the University. Notably, these are all consequences that would not just be felt now, but would reverberate long into our state’s future. This makes our efforts to preserve higher education funding all the more important.

Continue reading “What the state budget proposals could mean for the UW”