SEMO president speaks to House about budget cuts

Southeast Missouri State University president Dr. Ken Dobbins' testimony before the House Education Appropriations Committee on Wednesday morning in Jefferson City identified the university's early plans for dealing with a possible $5.2 million reduction in fiscal 2013.

Dobbins was among 12 state leaders in higher education to testify on the proposed budget cuts to public colleges and universities made by Gov. Jay Nixon before his State of the State address Jan. 17.

"We have put forward through the process that the deans of polytechnic studies and science and mathematics can combine to one," Dobbins said.

That move could save the university between $200,000 and $250,000. There is currently an interim dean in the School of Polytechnic Studies, following the retirement of the school's dean last year.

All schools and departments of the university will be asked to determine where cuts could be made, Dobbins said. During budget and academic review, administration will look at vacancies throughout the university system. There are three dean, six chairman and 30 faculty vacancies.

It will take some time to determine how and if the university can make cuts by looking at specific programs and services, Dobbins said.

"We can't just do across the board," he said.

The university will continue budget and academic program reviews before passing costs on to students through tuition raises, he said.

Dobbins previously said a 12.5 percent cut to Southeast's budget would force a tuition increase at least 3 percent, higher than the rate of inflation.

That percentage would also bring the total amount of cuts to university funding from the state near 25 percent in three years when including a 5.2 percent cut in 2011 and a 7 percent cut in 2010.

Dobbins also used his testimony to look back at appropriations since 1981, which he said he did to give the committee an idea of the pattern of funding cuts experienced by universities over the past two decades.

"I went over that so they can appreciate that funding to higher education has been reduced," he said.

Dobbins highlighted for the committee actions taken by the university from 2002 to 2004, when the university's base and one-time appropriations were cut by $8 million apiece, and the changes made in 2010 and 2011, which included changing health benefit programs for university employees and cutting staff and academic programs.

This time around, the university is not trying to do more with less, Dobbins said, because funding has already been cut significantly.

"We are trying to still maintain the quality of education for less money," he said. "This is going to be a very difficult budget, both for the legislature and the universities."

eragan@semissourian.com

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