Lexington, KY - In his proposed two-year budget for Kentucky's institutions of higher education, Gov. Steve Beshear has proposed a 6.4 percent cut to the state appropriation funding base of Kentucky's public universities. Appropriations would remain essentially flat in the second year of the biennium. Among the public institutions in the Business Lexington coverage area, the presidents of the University of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University and Morehead State University issued statements to their respective faculties addressing the governor's proposals. To grasp the implications of these reductions from the perspectives of three top Kentucky education leaders, we offer the following excerpts from those statements:
UK President Eli Capilouto:
Such reductions without question would have a significant impact on the University of Kentucky. It would force all of us to make strategic - and, yes, tough - decisions.
To put the magnitude of the proposed cuts into clear context: In December of 2007, our state appropriation was $335 million - revenues that are the cornerstone, along with tuition dollars, for our operating budget. Since that time, as the country plunged into a deep recession, we have absorbed cuts of some $30 million. Our state appropriation this year is roughly the same as it was in 2001.
In recent legislative sessions, the governor and lawmakers have tried to mitigate cuts to education by using a number of temporary funding sources and steps - $3 billion in federal stimulus and a restructuring of the state's debt payments, among the most significant measures taken.
Those dollars are gone. And the governor has said that one-time steps to stem against further cuts are no longer available.
So, while the state's actual revenue picture has started to improve, the upcoming budget for the commonwealth will be more difficult than any in memory.
[The] budget proposal reinforces in stark terms something we've known for some time: We are living in a "new normal." The days of sustained increases in state or federal support for our endeavors have passed. We must now, increasingly, look to earn our way. We must be more efficient. We must be careful stewards of the public money we do receive. We also must be more innovative and creative. And we must be willing to ask tough, focused questions about how we continue our ascent as an institution.
EKU President Doug Whitlock:
For EKU, that [6.4 percent cut] would mean a reduction of our state appropriation of approximately $4.5 million to a level of $67.7 million.
This will bring us back to our 2003-'04 funding level for state appropriations.
EKU did not show a favorable enrollment for the fall. Total enrollment was down 1.6 percent to 16,343 with the majority of the loss in undergrad-
uate students.
Preliminary spring enrollment does not indicate that EKU has been able to recover from the fall. This will translate to a tuition shortfall of approximately $3 million.
These two factors together generate challenges for us in the current year and particularly in the building of an operating budget for 2012-'13.
In order to assist us to cope in both instances, I am directing an immediate freeze on new staff and faculty hires, including positions for which searches are underway, but for which no offer of employment has been made.
Since our budget is personnel intensive, there is no way we can deal with this situation without a reduction in employees. It will be my goal, as before and to the highest degree possible, to achieve this end through attrition.
In addition, I am directing the Cabinet and Administrative Council to achieve all possible savings during the current year. This includes all operating and capital purchases. There will be no allocations out of the capital pool for this fiscal year. This will help us realize a one-time savings of over $1 million.
The current situation will require tougher decisions than the budget reductions we have faced in recent years.
MSU President Wayne D. Andrews:
The proposed $2.8 million state appropriation reduction is in addition to the $5.2 million in reductions that MSU has incurred since 2007. After this proposed cut, our state appropriation of just over $41 million would approximate the level of funding that we received from the state in 2001.
Reductions of this magnitude will obviously have a significant negative impact on MSU's operating budget. We will certainly address any budget reduction as strategically as possible, but the resulting decisions could in the governor's words, "require painful cuts that may well force us to retreat on some core services."