Trustees face tight budget

by Philip Elliott and Nick Juliano
Staff Writers
Philip.Elliott@ohiou.edu and Nicholas.P.Juliano.1@ohio.edu

COLUMBUS --Recognizing state support of higher education likely will continue its downward spiral, members of the Ohio University Board of Trustees reviewed potential plans to combat the university's dire finances. The trustees agreed that OU cannot expect an increase in the state's share of OU's budget, and OU administrators will face tough choices in the coming months.

Meeting at Nationwide Arena's Founders Club, the 11-member board consulted with OU administrators to re-evaluate priorities. The resulting agenda will cut spending, increase income and shift from a teaching institution to a learning institution.

"If you just do the slashing, you take things down to the lowest level," Kopp said, cautioning the trustees to move with caution when cutting from the budget. "If you look at institutions that have done that, they've set them back decades."

The No. 1 priority for the governor-appointed trustees: identify OU's areas of excellence and align the university's programs with its mission. During the last round of budget cuts, OU kept the reductions in non-academic areas. 

Trustees, however, said it might be time to remove programs that are not critical to OU's reputation or ability to serve its mission.

For instance, biology offers several areas of specialty. Under the trustees' suggestion, areas that are unpopular, unnecessary or unbeneficial would be consolidated with another track.

Trustees also encouraged administrators to consider increasing student enrollment — especially out-of-state students. The move could increase diversity and revenues. Out-of-state students pay $13,818 per year; Ohio residents pay $6,336.

During Fall Quarter, 1,495 out-of-state students and 15,229 Ohio students attended the Athens campus, according to the Office of Institutional Research preliminary report.

With the lecture hall facility on West Green slated to open in time for OU’s bicentennial in 2004 and Bentley Hall's renovation scheduled for completion next Fall Quarter, classroom space would not be an issue. Instead, Glidden said residence hall space could be the barrier.

Administrative offices in Scott Quad could be relocated to Tupper Hall or President Street Academic Center — both closed this year. Administrative areas in Scott Quad could be made into residence hall rooms.

While the proposal garnered attention from trustees, Glidden said the suggestion needs further investigation before OU takes any action. It is too early, he said, to identify potential paths for this initiative.

"You're not going to increase in one year," Glidden said.

And the proposal met hesitation from several administrators.

"We might lose our ability to feel good about ourselves," said Dick Siemer, treasurer and vice president for finance.

The third item trustees ranked as a priority reaffirmed Kopp's initiative to move OU from a teaching center to a learning center. Instead of students learning solely through lectures and readings, OU students would learn through completing projects.

For instance, the Global Learning Community already offers students an opportunity to craft a business plan for an international corporation through research in Athens and in another country. Kopp would encourage other academic units to follow that lead and develop more hands-on programs.

Even with these suggestions on the table, OU's budget likely will continue to face pressures stemming from the economic downturn and decreased state share.

"This is considerably worse than a decade ago," Glidden said, referring to the economic downturn in the early 1990s.

During the late 1990s, when the economy had recovered and was experiencing a boom, universities on average were increasing their expenditures.

The Statehouse cut higher-education allocations to increase support for primary and secondary education.

"(Legislators) view universities as fast, not responsive to economics," said Gordon Brunner, chairman of the Board of Trustees. "There's no ownership of higher education in the legislature."

Part of the problem stems from the lack of outrage from students and families. Glidden said he received fewer than five e-mails when tuition increased last year.

The strain on higher education is not unique to Ohio. Other states have faced similar crunches and most have fallen in line with Ohio. According to a NASBO study, 38 states increased tuition and fees in 2002 to reduce the shortfalls. Another 26 cut budgets, while another 22 tapped into the states' rainy-day funds.

In Ohio, the state removed a 6-percent limit on annual tuition hikes, allowing public universities to compensate for reduced higher-education allocations. At OU, tuition went up nearly 10 percent.

But the unbridled increases soon might end, Glidden said.

"We will see the re-imposition of the tuition caps," he said. "I'm not sure how or when, but it'll be back."