Some UI funding to be redistributed
MOSCOW, Idaho – The already cash-strapped University of Idaho must relinquish almost $200,000 in state funding under a state Board of Education plan to divvy up a portion of money the school receives to Idaho’s other four-year schools.
Idaho has traditionally gotten more money per student than Boise State University, Lewis-Clark State College and Idaho State University because of its emphasis on expensive research.
But four years ago, a state board study recommended the Legislature appropriate an additional $5.6 million to the other three schools to make state higher education funding more equitable.
With a 6-2 vote Friday in Boise, the board opted to reallocate 3.5 percent of that figure. BSU will get $110,100, ISU $84,000 and LCSC $2,600, a hit to the UI of more than $196,000.
The University of Idaho is millions of dollars in debt after years of chronic budget deficits and its failed University Place expansion attempt in Boise three years ago. It has already fired workers this year to make up for a $4.75 million budget overrun.
Now, President Tim White says he’ll be forced to tap into the school’s $1.2 million contingency fund to come up with the $200,000.
“We continue to face unexpected matters on a daily basis,” White told the board. “This is a very stressed organization.”
The fund, which White said should contain at least $5 million, will be compromised by the drawdown, he said.
If it’s depleted further by unexpected costs like outside attorney’s fees, White said, he may be forced to make mid-year cuts in personnel. The university’s foundation is embroiled in a legal battle with the California-based developer of the University Place project in which the foundation is demanding $5.6 million.
The Legislature told the state education board to address concerns over the equity of university funding this year – not with new money, but from existing funds.
The Legislature appropriates a lump sum, which the state board divides based on a set formula.
BSU leaders urged the board to approve some sort of reallocation. The former junior college is trying to rework its image to become a research university to rival the Moscow-based university.
“I know the box (White) is in,” BSU President Bob Kustra said. “But other institutions in this state have been systematically deprived of funding that was theirs. And Boise State University is at the top of that list.”
Financial directors at ISU and L-C State said they approved of funding equity – but only if it was done with new money and not at the UI’s expense.
Ken Prolo, ISU financial vice president, told the board that it was too late to take the money from the Moscow-based school.
Still, Idaho Falls board member Blake Hall joined the majority, adding he hopes this will send a message to the Legislature that demanding equity funding, but not providing the money to do it, adds insult to the fiscal injuries that the UI has already sustained.
“Each year we have been defeated or ignored,” Hall said of the board’s attempts to squeeze more higher ed money from the state. “But we have to deal with reality.”