Drawing line in sand, Nellis will dirty his fingers
Marty Trillhaase
October 16, 2009
Lewiston Morning Tribune
University of Idaho President Duane Nellis has drawn his own line in the sand.
Having sliced $7.1 million out of the UI's budget, Nellis says he can cut no more without doing serious damage to the institution.
"I continue to remind state leadership about the vital role that its only land grant university plays in the state's social and economic development. If the university is to remain the vibrant partner that has helped to build this great state and will lead to a strong recovery, it will be critical that we both focus on building our own resources - increase enrollment, retention, funded scholarships, research and creative activity and new collaborations - that our state leadership protect the essential nature of its investment in higher education and the work of future generations that we uniquely support," Nellis wrote. "Continued disinvestment should no longer be an option."
Presumably, "continued disinvestment" means faculty furloughs, something Nellis managed to avoid in this case. That raises all kinds of practical questions. Would classes be cancelled to accommodate the unpaid days off? How does a temporary furlough plan cover a permanent budget reduction? How much money could the university save when so much of its budget is tied up in fixed costs, including employee health insurance and benefits?
Then there's this: Seeing their state universities melting away, how many Idaho high school students would elect to attend college somewhere else? At what point does Idaho slip back into the brain drain that marked the 1980s?
So Nellis is right on the merits.
But he's compromised by the math and politics.
Idaho is short of money. Assuming nothing more than an anemic economic recovery occurs next year, the state is going to burn through all of its $226 million in reserves and still come up short. State schools Superintendent Tom Luna says he needs $112 million just to absorb more students. The cost of Medicaid automatically rises $80 million as the federal government scales back its match. Staffing new quarters in the prison system will take another $11 million.
If there's one place Idaho lawmakers can cut, it's where they have cut - higher education. Colleges and universities have independent funds such as student tuition and private grants and contracts.
They lack an effective statewide lobby. In fact, most of them are located in legislative districts with little regard for the dominant Republican legislative caucus - and vice versa.
So if Nellis wants to argue that his school and its sister institutions of higher learning should be spared another round of reductions, he'll have to offer alternatives.
Among them: prioritizing programs. Scrutinizing small shops such as Parks and Recreation doesn't lend a lot of money. Do it for 20 such agencies and you might come up with some cash.
Reduce the prison population by eliminating fixed sentences and restoring early release for good behavior.
Or restore the schools' ability to replace lost state dollars with an emergency property tax levy.
Playing politics to this degree is unusual turf for a university president. But if Nellis is not prepared to pursue it, he can expect to preside over a much-diminished campus 12 months from now.
Originally posted at http://www.lmtribune.com/story/opinion/46783/
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