BUDGET: FACULTY WANTS TALKS TO CONTINUE

Faculty senators at Southeast Missouri State University said they are heartened by recent comments from members of the Board of Regents indicating a willingness to consider possible athletic budget cuts.

"They are assuring us that they will consider everything," said faculty senator Shelba Branscum, who noted that the regents in recent comments to the news media have insisted there are no "sacred cows" in the budget process.

The Faculty Senate Wednesday elected not to circulate a petition among faculty members voicing concern about an April 15 vote by the regents rejecting a $250,000 athletic budget cut. That cut had been narrowly recommended by the university's Budget Review Committee.

Faculty senators last week had called for the petition effort. But Wednesday, senators approved a resolution instead.

"I think it will do more to facilitate the budget process than a petition would at this point," said Branscum.

Both she and Faculty Senate Chairman Allen Gathman said faculty members had been particularly concerned about the timing of the regents' vote, coming as it did before the university's budget committee had finalized a budget package for the 1992-93 year.

"It was the shortcircuiting of the process that we are concerned with," said Gathman.

Branscum agreed. "Nobody was hung up on the $250,000," she said. "It was simply a starting point."

She said she believes some compromise on athletic budget cuts can be worked out that will be acceptable to all parties involved.

The budget committee is scheduled to meet Monday afternoon and the athletic budget issue is expected to be discussed, both Branscum and Gathman said.

With the university having to trim costs for the upcoming fiscal year, Branscum said athletics cannot be considered off limits when it comes to budget cuts. "Athletics cannot be left out. It's too big a piece of our budget picture," she said.

The university spends about $1.8 million of its general operations budget on athletics.

In its resolution, the Faculty Senate voiced concern about the April 15 vote by the regents. "What particularly concerned us was that this premature decision occurred before the internal budget discussions were complete, before a balancing of the budget had been achieved and before any formal recommendation had been presented by the university administration for the board's consideration."

But the resolution goes on to say, "We were pleased to discover from statements last week that the board's position is not so inflexible as it first appeared and that budget deliberations will continue.

"We urge that these be pursued with diligence, independence and due regard to the needs and welfare of all university programs. When a complete recommendation has been formulated, we hope that the board will consider it in the same spirit," the resolution states.

Regents last week explained their earlier vote, pointing out they were not opposed to an athletic budget cut, only to one that would jeopardize the university's status as a NCAA Division I school.