Unexpected cuts force Southeast to check options

Southeast Missouri State University may have to hike tuition significantly and look at cost-cutting moves to combat major cuts in state spending for the fiscal year that begins July 1, school officials say.

Don Dickerson, president of the board of regents, said it's too early to tell what cost-cutting moves can be made. But he said tight funding could make it hard to give pay raises to the university's 1,000 employees.

"I think everybody knows when you have lean budget times, there is a lot of pain," Dickerson said Thursday. "I guess it is always a question about how that pain is shared."

His comments came a day after Gov. Bob Holden unveiled a proposed budget for fiscal 2003 that would cut general revenue money for state colleges and universities by more than $97 million.

Under Holden's budget, Southeast would receive $43.9 million in general operations money from the state after the traditional 3-percent withholding.

The 3-percent withholding is a standard government budgeting practice used with all state agencies to guard against unforeseen expenses and lower-than-expected revenue.

The governor's budget proposal for next year is $1.7 million less than the $45 million-plus the university is receiving this year after a series of state spending cuts, Dickerson said.

And the proposed funding for fiscal 2003 is nearly $5 million less than the $48.8 million originally earmarked for the Cape Girardeau school for the current fiscal year, school officials said. The $48.8 million is the amount that was budgeted after the traditional 3-percent withholding.

$480 million in cuts

Holden proposed $480 million in core budget cuts for the coming fiscal year, including $100 million from Missouri's two- and four-year public colleges and universities.

Dr. Ken Dobbins, Southeast president, said school officials hadn't expected such a massive cut for higher education.

"This is a policy change in funding higher education," Dobbins said. The result, he said, is that students may have to pay higher tuition.

Both Dobbins and Dickerson said they don't want to hike tuition to the point that students can't afford to attend Southeast.

Dobbins said Southeast will consider reallocating more scholarships from merit-based to need-based and even expanding need-based aid.

Dobbins said the university will have to look at cutting back on equipment purchases, staffing and programs.

But both Dobbins and Dickerson said they don't want to slash academic programs across the board because it would hurt the quality of education at Southeast.

Even with funding woes, Southeast needs to continue to upgrade campus computers. It's important for students to be able to keep up with the latest technology, Dobbins said.

"If you don't have that, they are not getting jobs," he said. "That's the bottom line."

Dobbins said the tight state budget makes it even more important for the university to raise private dollars through the university foundation and continue to secure federal grants.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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