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What is the last thing Idaho’s colleges should do during a recession? How about pricing students out of the market? Or driving away quality faculty or staff? If university presidents aren’t careful, they run the risk of doing both. It depends on how they handle the current cash crunch - and how much help they get from the Statehouse. Last week, the State Board of Education said it will allow universities to seek tuition or fee increases exceeding 10 percent. The board also moved a step closer to giving presidents greater leeway to cut personnel costs; a final decision could come in February. There is an air of desperation here; with tax collections still sputtering, the State Board seems to be pulling out all the stops and allowing university presidents to weather the storm by whatever means necessary. Even if the “solutions” make a bad situation worse/Kevin Richert, Idaho Statesman. More here.
Question: What would you suggest the state do, to help Idaho’s colleges survive the current economic storm?
D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.
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moscow_minidoka on December 15 at 9:00 a.m.
“Question: What would you suggest the state do, to help Idaho’s colleges survive the current economic storm?”
That’s an easy answer - the state should adequately fund its university system.
Charles_Dixon on December 15 at 9:20 a.m.
There is only so much money coming into state coffers from taxes. The state has been cutting budgets significantly for over a year now, and the tax money isn’t increasing. I think what the SBOE is doing is simply letting the man on the ground handle the situation without the SBOE making things worse by micromanaging. I tend to think that university presidents can make a better call as to what cuts or fee increases will best help the school through the difficult situation than a state board can. The presidents know their schools and they are much closer to the heartbeat of things than some state appointees who have to oversee many universities, not to mention hundreds of elementary, junior high, and high schools across the state.
We hear a lot of complaining about how various state officials and agencies are handling the tough times. The biggest complaint is what Richert is doing here—complaining that something they favor is being hurt. But it’s a robbing Peter to pay Paul scenario at this point, and no doubt if the state took money from K-12 to help budgets at the universities Richert and others would chime in again with complaints. Same if the money came from Medicaid or a number of other funds.
I do think that the state needs to better invest in higher ed. We’re way behind on that one. But in this recession when the money simply isn’t there it’s a bad time to demand more money for anything. Everyone has to suffer.
Don_Sausser on December 15 at 9:22 a.m.
MM, that’s a great goal although few might agree on when adequacy is reached.
How might adequate funding be accomplished in light of this down economy?
RathdrumBob on December 15 at 9:38 a.m.
It seems obvious to most of us that making higher education more costly for students during a recession is a bad idea. That said, there is only so much money to go around. As 2010 is an election year, raising taxes is off the table, and some of the Republican’ts are talking of tax CUTS. The colleges are going to have to do a little more belt tightening. The state could declare a fiscal emergency (or exigency, or whatever the right term is), which would allow them to void contracts, either with unions or individual employees. Next, get rid of the cupcake classes (if you don’t believe there are any, ask the students, or see what classes the athletes are enrolled in). Do away with tenure (the faculties are no longer capable of making hard choices about marginal or just plain poor instructors) and get rid of instructors who don’t measure up or aren’t needed. I can now hear the screams from the faculty! However, those of us in the private sector, who pay the bills, don’t have lifetime employment, nor do we have great (or any) fringe benefit packages. It’s time to face reality.
jazzyvandal on December 15 at 12:20 p.m.
I’m glad to be done with college. I feel bad for the incoming students, especially if the rumors are true about more tuition increases. It will price a lot of students out of higher education. Idaho has to invest in its future and bring more industry to the state. If not, more college grads will keep moving out of state.