Higher ed gets the squeeze

As the 2005 Legislature approaches, fiscal ripple effects from the last session are being felt at Utah's public universities.

Utah State University has had more than $1 million in budget cuts because the state can't fund rising fuel and power costs, which have hurt some of Utah's 10 public institutions more than others. That's because of just the last legislative session.

USU has also lost 150 faculty and staff over the past four years. Half of those were because they found better-paying jobs in other states, according to USU President Kermit Hall. Also gone are the research dollars some faculty took with them.

The picture at USU worsens when you consider that in the same amount of time, the state share of funding the overall cost of a student's education has dropped from about 37 percent to almost 28 percent. Student tuition has taken up the slack.

"That just means we're left more and more on our own," Hall said. "We're just looking more and more like a private institution."

The plan now is for USU to join the University of Utah in adding a surcharge to students to help pay for fuel and power. That's in addition to a proposed tuition hike at USU of a cumulative 43 percent over the next three years.

USU budget cuts for the current fiscal year have meant not filling vacant positions and trimming operating costs, which includes delays in purchasing new equipment for labs.

"It's really regrettable that we're put in this position," Hall said.

It's a sentiment Hall and others hope lawmakers will understand.

At the U., a sampling of recent faculty losses includes five professors who were making between $44,000 and $59,000 per year but left for jobs that paid $11,000 to $30,000 more in other states.

U. President Michael K. Young said in a recent interview that he has personally had a hand in fending off attempts by other schools to lure away key faculty. One of those schools includes the University of Florida, whose president is Bernie Machen, the U. president before Young. Unlike USU, the U. isn't feeling the same fuel and power crunch. A surcharge for U. students has helped there.

"We do not anticipate budget cuts at this time," said Paul Brinkman, U. associate vice president for budget and planning. "But if the price of natural gas were to spike and remain well beyond our forecasts, we would have to reconsider."