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September 30, 2010 in Region
WSU president rejects across-board budget cuts
Facing millions of dollars in budget cuts, Washington State University President Elson S. Floyd said the school needs to make a stronger case about the importance of higher education.
“Everything must and should be on the table as we attempt to balance the budget,” Floyd told students in Pullman on Wednesday. But he rejected across-the-board cuts, saying they lead to mediocrity.
This month, the state informed WSU that it must cut an additional $11.2 million from its budget for the current fiscal year. That’s after a $13.5 million reduction already imposed by the state for 2010-11.
Floyd has asked administrators to submit budget plans by Oct. 15, and he will hold public hearings on those plans.
He said WSU needs to go on the offensive and make a stronger case to legislators about the importance of higher education. He noted that WSU has extension offices in all 39 counties in the state.
“It has been inspirational for me to hear from so many Washingtonians about how WSU helps them in their daily lives, through Extension, through 4-H, through agricultural research, through distance education, through nutrition counseling, through community building,” he said.
Floyd also told students that additional double-digit tuition increases are not sustainable. He said financial barriers to higher education were leading to lower college completion rates.
Washington has traditionally been a magnet for well-educated people from other states, but continuing to depend on other states to educate the state’s workforce is shortsighted, Floyd said.
“We need to make sure that Washington’s colleges and universities are funded to meet Washington’s needs,” he said.
© Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Four dead, two wounded in Seattle shootings 
westerly on September 30 at 2:18 p.m.
Like all schools, wages, retirements, perks, benefits are way too high in this depression….and…thats where all the money goes….to the employees
hawken on September 30 at 3:02 p.m.
WSU should have no special dispensation, along with their staff to escape the needed budget cuts that must made across the board.
bdr on September 30 at 3:17 p.m.
Washington State University President Elson S. Floyd
needs to wake up……before we give him an old whiskey barrel with suspender straps.
this was a depression……and teachers WILL suffer no ands or buts about it.
de3 on September 30 at 4:04 p.m.
I do not think this report is complete. I believe he also said that rather than cut all programs equally, they will look at possibly cutting some programs to save money. Programs that are doing national and world class work, I imagine, are likely to stay. Small programs that are not innovating or doing prominent work might be at risk. That is how I understood it, but I could be wrong.
According to other reporting, in the last 15 months, WSU’s funding was cut from $522 million to $396 million, and now they are to cut another 6.3% from that.
The cut backs are at a point where the Legislature needs to decide if it wants to be in the business of public higher education and if Washington will have a 21st century economy that competes on an international level. Where China, for example, has increased total college enrollments by a factor of ten - that is 10x more students today than in the 1990s.
Dazzeetrader1980 on September 30 at 4:51 p.m.
Teachers Unions are driving this. Elson knows it. He and “they” have been spoiled and want what they want when they want it. Rid us those unions and have the bad teachers leave. Cut the budgets like everyone else has to. No Whining in hard times.
We’re bloated with students but very few become contributors. It’s hard times. Cut the dang budget and grow up Elson!
BLOATED budget on RIverpoint…they produce no research and not much of anything but a feeder system for nurses…as do SCC, Eastern GU and most every one. Cut the Riverpoint budget…oh and tell Chris Marr to do that since he’s the one that expanded the spending…..and don’t refund until there’s some accountability. They just wasted $701 thousand of state monies on research they’ll never own and never do. Grow up WSU…Elson have a seat.