Des Moines Register
01-24-07
Universities ask lawmakers to restore funding
Iowa State's president says faculty are leaving for better salaries.
By JONATHAN ROOS
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
Leaders of the three state universities appealed to the Legislature Tuesday to
help them put a damper on future tuition increases while allocating more state
money for faculty salaries.
"We have to be sure that we do not ... cut off access to lower-income students
and parents to higher education," Gary Fethke, interim president of the University
of Iowa, told members of the House-Senate budget subcommittee that oversees
higher education spending.
In recent years, the universities have relied more on tuition because the
Legislature cut back on appropriations during a general period of belt-tightening.
Iowa State University has struggled to keep up with the competition from other
institutions in offering attractive salaries to some of its most valued faculty
members, said President Gregory Geoffroy.
"We've lost a lot of faculty," Geoffroy said. "We are teetering on the edge. If we
don't start to turn things around, I really wonder what the future is going to be."
Also addressing the legislative panel was University of Northern Iowa President
Benjamin Allen.
The three public universities are seeking a $64 million increase in state money
for their general education expenses, plus an extra $8 million for a set of
programs earmarked for support by the Legislature.
The additional money in next year's budget would still leave the regent
institutions about $5 million short of the $723 million received from the state in
the 2001 budget year for operational expenses, officials said.
Committee members seemed receptive to the presidents' arguments but made
no promises.
"We need to improve salaries but I think we need to pay attention to other factors
as well," said Sen. Herman Quirmbach, an Ames Democrat.
Gov. Chet Culver, who campaigned on the need to make higher education more
affordable, delivers his state budget recommendations to the Legislature on
Tuesday.
Under tuition increases approved last month by the Iowa Board of Regents for
2007-08, Iowa resident undergraduate students will pay an average of 5.2
percent more in tuition.