Education, political leaders discuss education funding needs
Students and educators warned legislators Friday afternoon that failing to fund higher education in the state of Oregon is a losing bid for everyone, but SOU has suffered more than any other school.
About 75 people gathered in the Meese Room of Southern Oregon University's Hannon Library to participate in a joint meeting between the Oregon Senate Committee on Education and General Government and the House Education Committee on funding higher education. Chancellor of the Oregon University System George Pernsteiner, Southern Oregon University President Mary Cullinan, and Margie Lowe, policy adviser to Gov. Ted Kulongoski's office addressed the committee along with students, faculty and staff from SOU.
Statewide, general fund dollars and federal funds for higher education have dropped proportionally, Pernsteiner said, putting more of the pressure to fund universities on tuition and fees. General fund monies for the state public university system dropped from 26 percent of funding during the 1999-2001 biennium to 16 percent in the 2005-2007 biennium. During the same period, the student share of higher education funding surpassed what the state pays to fund its institutions, Pernsteiner said.
The reductions in state general fund spending on higher education resulted in declining enrollment and increased tuition statewide, Pernsteiner said, with Southern Oregon University affected the most.
"It seems this university is suffering more than others," said Sen. Vicki Walker, D-Eugene, chair of the Senate Committee on Education and General Government.
Walker said even 30 years ago college didn't seem affordable but, "It seems to be worse now than ever."
At SOU, seven years of declining enrollment and decreased revenues forced the university to increase funding, President Mary Cullinan said. Between 1999 and 2006, the university saw a decrease of 615 full-time students. During the same period, overall revenues increased only 23 percent, Cullinan said. On March 12, Cullinan will release a formal retrenchment plan. After two comment periods and a provisional plan that outlines cutting three majors and about 50 positions, the university is planning to cut costs to save about $4 million.
"One might say we are trapped in a revenue-static environment," Cullinan said. "In the current fiscal year, general fund resources are more or less fixed; tuition revenues are constrained by enrollment decline and no other significant infusions of cash are likely."
Donavan Grace Weil, a geology student at SOU, spoke about her life as a mother with a disabled partner. Weil, 25, said in her current situation, SOU is her only option. The potential loss of the geology program could mean students like her would drop out, she said. She pleaded that legislators find a way to fund higher education so talented people do not give up their education because they can't afford it.
The state will see more negative effects if it does not spend more on higher education, she said.
"In the next three years, it is estimated that 87 percent of new jobs in Oregon will require a college degree," Weil said. "Yet, we are cutting the funding to our university system, crippling our ability to provide the necessary work force to attract new business to Oregon and shortchanging our current population."
Gov. Ted Kulongoski's proposed budget allocates $6.09 billion of the $14.9 billion proposed to public schools. Cullinan and Chancellor Pernsteiner said it would be a step in the right direction, but will not solve the university system's immediate problems.
For students like Kathleen Gamer, a student and single mother, state funding could mean the difference between college or no college for her and her son. Gamer leaned into the microphone, and with a shaky voice, expressed her concerns that the state support those making an effort to better themselves.
"As a non-traditional, single mother, with a son in the Oregon school system, I am concerned with our education system, and I would personally lose all hope for a future for me and my son if we do not change this dangerous trend of disinvestment in higher education."
Rep. Peter Buckley, D-Ashland, chair of the house education committee, said earlier this week he wants to increase funding for higher education.
"What is happening at Southern Oregon University is a direct result of our state's refusal to adequately fund higher education over the past six years," Buckley said. "It is crucial for us to bring stability to state revenues and to increase our investment in education. We have neglected to do so for far too long, and the price we are paying now is high."
The joint committee also heard public hearings on Senate Bill 334 the Shared Responsibility Proposal (which would restructure the Oregon Opportunity Grant to share higher education funding between the student, state, family and federal government) and House Bill 2579, which would increase the number of directors appointed to the state board of higher education.
Staff writer Alan Panebaker can be reached at 482-3456 x 227 or apanebaker@dailytidings.com.
