State cuts force businesslike decisions

Along with other state-funded colleges and universities in the state, Southeast Missouri State University has been granted a reprieve from the latest spending cuts announced by Gov. Bob Holden.

That's good news, because it means the students won't see another tuition increase.

At least not yet.

But what it doesn't mean -- and what university officials shouldn't think it means -- is that it's time to relax. Further tuition increases could still happen if state funding is cut again over the next six months.

University officials know this is a real possibility.

Ironically, the state-funded schools may have been on the right track before the latest good news came.

Missouri's university officials met in St. Louis days before the announcement, saying that the pinch of state budget cuts would cause them to have fewer classes. Those classes that remained would have to have more students in them. Teachers may have to take on bigger teaching loads, they said.

In other words, they were forced to think like a business. That's not necessarily an entirely bad thing.

In recent years, when the economy was rapidly expanding, Missouri's universities had become bloated like the rest of state government. But like many of Missouri's businesses in the past two years of economic sluggishness, the schools have now been forced to look at ways to trim the fat.

In this climate of spending controls and getting the most out of every dollar, universities need to ask themselves what's best for the student, much in the same way that businesses have to ask what's best for their customers.

Students, no doubt, would rather sit in a classroom with a few more students in it than pay more to take the exact same class with fewer students.

In years past when student enrollment was declining at Southeast, the university added faculty and staff positions. Few business owners would hire more employees while the customer base was dwindling.

Then came the strong economic years and growing enrollment -- all accompanied by even more hiring.

While the universities have been spared in this latest round of state budget cuts, 870 other state positions are being eliminated. Most of those are positions that are already vacant. Only 96 Missouri's state workers are actually being laid off.

Southeast Missouri State University and other universities have been forced to examine their priorities and to rethink how they do business. This is a process that could have long-term benefits for students.