Unfortunately, on this St. Patrick’s Day, the state’s revenue forecast has the state seeing more red than green.
For more detail on what the numbers mean for the UW and the state, visit the OPB blog here.
News & Updates
Legislators schedule town hall meetings at home
State legislators have reached the halfway point of the 2011 session and will now head back to their districts to meet with constituents. You can find a list of locations, dates and times listed by legislative district here.
President’s Town Hall: State of the UW Budget
Today, UW Interim President Phyllis Wise addressed a packed Kane Hall on the status of the University’s budget, the implications of pending budget cuts, and University priorities and strategies for the next biennium.
If you weren’t able to attend, you can watch the full event at UWTV here.
State’s newspapers comment on higher ed crisis
The editorial boards of the state’s largest newspapers have commented recently on the crisis in higher education.
The Walla Walla Union Bulletin (editorial not available online) commented March 3, “Higher education in Washington state isn’t getting the respect it deserves nor the cash it needs from state lawmakers…. Lawmakers need to accept their responsibility as stewards of state-owned schools and make sure they are adequately funded and remain affordable.”
The Wenatchee World commented March 2, noting that the proposed budget cuts will mean loss of staff, higher tuition, and longer time to earn a degree. “We have engineered our budgets and are designing a system where acquisition of knowledge beyond the 12th grade is an unsupportable luxury. Avoidable or not, we will regret it.”
The Olympian editorial board on March 1called for the legislature to grant more tuition flexibility to the state’s universities in order to help them offset impending budget cutbacks, “As distasteful as the bills might be to students and their parents – the original legislation acknowledges that the state is not funding higher education at an appropriate level and if they hope to continue to serve as public institutions, colleges and universities need flexibility to make up budget shortfalls with higher tuition. It’s not ideal, but it is fair and equitable.”
The Seattle Times on Feb. 20 said “…the Legislature must get behind a road map charting a better course for universities struggling to pay for the level of access and academic quality state residents expect.”
In a Feb. 19 editorial, the Spokane Spokesman Review said, “Our leaders are great at selling the value of higher education and its importance to the overall health of national, state and local economies, but they fail in keeping the doors of public institutions propped open to qualified students. In fact, the rhetoric seems to rise in inverse proportion to the investment.”
The Tacoma News Tribune on Jan. 30 commented on the connection between higher education and jobs in Washington, “The Legislature this year doesn’t have the money to preserve college opportunity in Washington. It should at least get out of the way and let the universities do it themselves.”
Family ties: UW Bothell
In the midst of a challenging legislative session, it’s always great to get reminders that the UW community is full of amazing people doing remarkable things.
For a daily dose of Husky goodness, check out this video from UW Bothell.
Have your own example? Send it over to me at mshep@uw.edu.
Olympian newspaper calls for giving higher ed tuition authority to offset budget cuts
The Olympian newspaper, in an editorial, calls for giving the state’s universities the flexibility to make up budget shortfalls with higher tuition. The editorial points out that current proposals, if enacted, could mean that state funding of the UW has been cut by half in just three years.
UW describes potential effects of large budget cuts
In response to a request from legislative leaders, Interim President Phyllis Wise outlined the effect of budget cuts that were at the level of the governor’s proposed cuts (about $189 million) plus 15 or 30 percent. Those effects could include:
- Up to 500 fewer Washington residents in the freshman class
- Loss of up to 1,800 jobs on campus
- Potential consolidation of two schools, as well as the loss of other degree programs
- Annual tuition increases of 23 to 30 percent
- Increased time-to-degree of as much as three academic quarters, increasing a student’s tuition needs by $8,700
The Olympian described the potential effects as “troubling.” The Seattle Times called the scenario of cuts at the UW and elsewhere in higher education as “grim.”
Read Wise’s letter to the legislators here.
Tuition-setting bill passes out of House Higher Education Committee
A bill sponsored by Rep. Reuven Carlyle, which would give four-year colleges and universities full tuition setting authority for four years and set up a new middle class financial aid program, has passed by a vote of 10-5 from the House Higher Education Committee.
Represent
Bill would give universities unlimited tuition authority for four years
The state’s colleges and universities would have four years of unlimited tuition-setting authority to establish a new baseline for tuition under a bill introduced Tuesday.