| Place a Classified | Subscribe today | July 10, 2009 |
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Universities want more money
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Leaders of Idaho’s major four-year colleges and universities converged on the state Capitol this week, part of their annual pilgrimage to ask the Legislature to increase faculty pay, maintain or expand facilities and boost research.
The University of Idaho in Moscow, Boise State University, Idaho State University in Pocatello and Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston want $295 million from the state for the year starting next July, a 13.3 percent increase. Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter has proposed an 8.6 percent boost, to $275 million. The presidents’ request includes an $11.8 million “salary competitiveness” program, on top of a 3.5 percent raise that would cost $9 million. Otter favors a 5 percent raise for all state employees including at universities, though he hasn’t endorsed the additional salary request.
UI President Tim White said he’s struggling to keep his professors, especially with Washington State University just eight miles across the border in Pullman, Wash., where faculty are paid up to 20 percent more. A study of 19 state schools shows pay for UI faculty trailed all but two, and on average was 17.6 percent lower, he said. “We’re trying to aspire to average,” White told the 20-member Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, adding even that “is inconsistent ... with being a superior institution.”
Speaking before the budget setting panel, the presidents each had a different message. ISU’s Arthur Vailas said he wants to expand his school’s role as Idaho’s foremost institution for students seeking jobs in health or medical fields. He wants the state to spend $300,000 on a study on whether the 104-year-old university could develop a “virtual” medical school that relies on technology and an existing network of hospitals to train Idaho’s next generation of doctors.
“We want to build on our strengths from the past,” Vailas told The Associated Press on Monday after his presentation, in which he described ISU’s family practice residency program, which has grown to 18 resident doctors a year from just four in 1992. “ISU has done a great job in executing the health care mission for the state of Idaho.” BSU’s Bob Kustra hopes to capture momentum from the school’s Jan. 1 Fiesta Bowl victory over Oklahoma — “The most exciting college football game you will ever see,” he told lawmakers — to help turn Boise State into Idaho’s metropolitan research university.
The school is in the midst of a $200 million to $300 million fundraising campaign, wants to unload its community college functions, and is increasing its doctoral and master’s degree programs. Kustra said he did not want the state’s general fund support of BSU funding to erode to less than 28 percent of its total funding. “It’s not just about sitting back and enjoying ’Fiesta Bowl Fever,”’ Kustra said. “It’s also about assuring the success of our students.”
White offered reassurances the UI is again on solid financial ground after a failed expansion attempt in Boise exacerbated budget woes that had been caused by years of overruns. Now, he’s turning to some $207 million in deferred maintenance on the school’s facilities, including 253 buildings, 46.5 acres of roofs, 3.4 miles of utility tunnels and 20 miles of sidewalks. “All of that stuff costs money,” White said Tuesday. “This $207 million in deferred maintenance is really big for us.”
The presidents touched on the realities of attracting more Idaho students to their schools, at a time when just 45 percent of the state’s high school graduates go directly to college, the fourth-lowest rate in America. ISU and UI enrollment dropped this year. At BSU, enrollment rose just 1.3 percent, even though southeastern Idaho is one of the fastest-growing regions in America’s third-fastest growing state. LCSC’s full- and part-time enrollment rose less than 1 percent, according to state budget figures.
The presidents said a $38 million scholarship endowment, proposed by Otter for low-income students, will help. White also told lawmakers the enrollment figures by themselves are misleading, contending they should also focus on Idaho institutions’ success in retaining students. At Idaho, for instance, 78 percent of freshmen return for their sophomore years, compared to the 58 percent statewide average.
“It’s more expensive to have them come and drop out,” White said. BSU’s Kustra acknowledged shortcomings at BSU in holding onto freshmen, and said the school has set a goal of raising rates to 70 percent, from around 60 percent, by next year. “We’ve taken seriously our responsibility in recruiting students,” Kustra said. “Now, we’ve embarked on a formal retention program.” Article RatingReader CommentsSubmit a CommentCommenting RulesWe encourage your feedback and dialog. All comments are subject to deletion by our Web staff.
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