Date: 3/17/00
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
President Mary Sue Coleman, University of Iowa, (319) 335-3549
President Martin C. Jischke, Iowa State University, (515) 294-2042
President Robert D. Koob, University of Northern Iowa, (319) 273-2566
Superintendent William P. Johnson, Iowa School for the Deaf, (712) 366-2818
Superintendent Dennis Thurman, Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School, (319) 472-5221
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Members of the Board of Regents reacted strongly Thursday to a proposal by House Republicans that would cut approximately $15.5 million from Governor Tom Vilsack's fiscal year 2001 education budget recommendations.
The proposal would cut $10 million from fiscal year 2000 base budgets, as well as not funding $5.5 million in new initiatives identified by the Governor for the Regent institutions. These cuts are in addition to an estimated shortfall of $8.5 million needed to fund state negotiated salary increases at Regent institutions.
The plan details cuts for each of the Regent institutions, including $5.4 million at the University of Iowa, $3.2 million at Iowa State University; $1.4 million at the University of Northern Iowa, $12,600 at the Iowa School for the Deaf, and $7,400 at the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School.
During this legislative session, fiscal year 2000 Regent budgets were reduced by $3.4 million. Faculty and staff positions went unfilled, building repairs were postponed, class sizes were increased and improvements of instructional equipment were reduced.
“These cuts will cause serious erosion in the quality and access of our universities' education, research and outreach programs,” said Owen J. Newlin, president, Board of Regents, State of Iowa. “The Board of Regents is a citizen board, we are appointed by the Governor, confirmed by the Senate. We represent the citizens of Iowa relative to public higher education. The people of Iowa need to know how damaging these cuts will be.”
The cuts come at a time when the Regents institutions are experiencing record high enrollments and an increasingly critical role in the economy of both the state and its individual citizens. Few things are more damaging to the future success of Iowa children and the Iowa economy than reducing the quality of our educational and research capacities.
“We don't have a lot of options,” said University of Iowa President Mary Sue Coleman. “I've got a $12 million problem.”
Coleman said the cuts would lead to reduced quality, restricted access and a dramatic increase in cost to students. “I don't want to lead the university on a downward spiral and I don't think the people of Iowa want that.”
“This is without question the most discouraging budget proposal I have seen in my time at Iowa State,” said Iowa State University President Martin Jischke.
Jischke said the proposed cuts come at a time when enrollment, retention, graduation rates, program quality and research efforts are all increasing. “The foundation of this success, our support from the state of Iowa, is now in jeopardy,” said Jischke.
Jischke went on to say fewer resources will mean fewer faculty teaching more students; diminished research capacity during a time of increased economic opportunities; and reduced outreach to a distressed agricultural community. “At a time when record numbers of alumni and friends are joining in partnership with the taxpayers of Iowa to make our universities better, the leaders of Iowa are apparently saying that they are going to change and abandon Iowa's historic priority given to higher education and, specifically, the Regents universities.” He added that the move would come at a time when surrounding states are increasing their support of public higher education.
University of Northern Iowa President Robert Koob noted that careful planning over the past several years has allowed the universities to build top-notch programs with modest funding increases. “It takes forever to build that quality – 20 years you can work on building quality, and you can destroy it in a year or two. We have got to prevent the degradation of quality we have worked so hard and so long to achieve.
“One can talk about saving money with a budget like this, but you're not saving anything. You're just shifting the burden, from the taxpayers at large to the individual students and parents and families. That shift of burden is a selfishness to which I've grown unaccustomed here in Iowa. This is a significant policy shift.”
Regent Roger Lande said, “This has very short-term and very long-term implications. If it came to pass that we had this kind of budget, the largest impact on a targeted group, despite all the pain on the universities, would be on students in high school and elementary school in Iowa today, because this would portend a change in what is available in the quality and nature of education they have come to expect from our three state universities.”
“This is really a fundamental change,” Regent Ellengray Kennedy said. “We cannot plan —we can't make sound decisions when we don't have fundamental support. It really fundamentally changes all the work that has been done on the strategic plans. We cannot put public higher education, which we have always as Iowans supported, at risk.”
Kennedy noted that the state does not provide funding for inflation, and required cuts in fiscal 2000 budgets. “To have this continue is really outrageous, and it's insulting to the work of the Regents and the institutions and the people of Iowa, who have fundamentally supported higher education.”
“One thing that's very disturbing is that the economy in Iowa has never been better and tax receipts to state government have never been higher,” said Regent David Fisher. He pointed to increases in tuition rates and in private giving to the universities.
Regent Lisa Ahrens, a student at ISU, said private giving is at an all-time high because of the quality and success the universities are providing. “That private funding can't be expected to make up for the shortfall in operating support. We need those tools, as students, so that when we graduate we can be competitive in the workplace.” She said students realize that they have to pay increased tuition to help improve educational quality, “but we cannot be expected to double our tuition increases to make up for these cuts.”
Regent Bev Smith noted that the board's strategic planning goal dealing with quality calls for the Regents institutions to be the best. “We recognize that being the best costs, and that if this budget as proposed stands, we need to quickly get back together and revisit our strategic plan, because there's no way we can provide the best with this lack of support from the state level.”
“We should clearly understand that when it comes to education and progress, that there's no such thing as staying the same,” said Regent Deb Turner. “If you fund at the same level on the concept of staying the same, then what you're doing is falling behind. If we decided to stay the same 13 or 30 years ago in the state of Iowa, as far as higher education, I wouldn't be sitting here today.”
Regent David Neil said, “Education is more than just bricks and mortar. It's people that make education go. If we're going to maintain the quality of education in this state, it's going to take a reasonable, consistent level of funding from state leaders to plan for the future. If they're not willing to make that commitment to higher education in this state, they need to let their Board of Regents know now, so that we can make appropriate plans.”
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