JOPLIN, Mo. —
Missouri’s public colleges and universities took another budget hit Friday from Gov. Jay Nixon, marking the third straight year that higher education institutions have seen their core state funding reduced.
Nixon announced nearly $9 million in cuts for colleges and universities while signing Missouri’s $24 billion budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1.
It remained unclear Friday how much of a reduction Southwest Missouri colleges and universities will have to manage.
President Bruce Speck at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin said in an email that administrators will study Nixon’s budget to try to understand its impact.
“We need a few days to examine what the governor has signed,” he said. “The past several years have been economically challenging, and while we are hopeful for the best, we simply need a little time to absorb these numbers and determine what they mean for us.”
Sherry Buchanan, chairwoman of the MSSU Board of Governors, said she could not comment because she had not “heard any particulars” beyond the fact that Nixon had cut the higher education budget.
“I think we should know more next week,” she said when reached by telephone Friday afternoon.
Rod Anderson, chairman of the board’s budget committee, also said he had no details Friday on the impact to Missouri Southern.
“By next week, we’ll have a little more information about how that might affect us,” he said when reached by telephone. “We are going to look at it in a very timely manner to see what we can do.”
The board last month approved a $72.4 million balanced budget based on an expected $1.7 million reduction in state funding. That amount had initially been cut from Missouri Southern in a proposal by Nixon.
Legislators later restored that amount and added $300,000 more for the university. Administrators had been hopeful that Nixon would keep that amount — a difference of about $2 million for Missouri Southern — in the budget.
The cut to higher education amounts to 1 percent less than the roughly $850 million colleges and universities expected under the budget. But when combined with previous cuts, institutions will get 12.4 percent less — or about $120 million — than in the 2009-2010 school year.
They could have lost nearly twice that much. When Nixon presented a budget plan in January, he recommended a $106 million cut to higher education institutions for the 2013 fiscal year. He later softened that by tapping a portion of Missouri’s expected revenue from a national settlement with mortgage lenders. Lawmakers then wiped out the rest of Nixon’s proposed higher education cut by making reductions to other programs and shifting money around in the budget.
“Frankly, a 1 percent reduction, while not what we would have chosen, is positive news” compared with Nixon’s original proposal, said Brian Long, director of the Council on Public Higher Education in Missouri.
But Long added: “Higher education has never been generously funded in the state of Missouri, in my opinion, and consecutive years of budget reductions — if this continues — is really not sustainable.”
House Budget Committee Chairman Ryan Silvey said the cut shows “this governor is absolutely hostile to higher education.”
Nixon countered: “I fully support higher education in Missouri,” citing increased funding for college job-training efforts.
Pay raises?
Also unclear Friday was what Gov. Jay Nixon’s cuts would mean for the possibility of salary increases for faculty and staff at Missouri Southern State University. Members of the Board of Governors have said that pay raises, which have not been given in at least four years, are their top priority.
Top Stories
Cuts to higher education announced by Nixon
- Top Stories
-
-
Federal, state leaders salute Joplin’s recovery
A deadly May twister may have punched a hole in Joplin and Duquesne two years ago, but the resolve to repair it will help other communities stand strong when they face similar disasters. That was the message of state and national diginitaries to a crowd of about 2,500 who observed the second anniversary of Joplin’s devastating May 22, 2011, storm during a ceremony Wednesday in Cunningham Park.
-
Content of book, students' access to it at issue in hearing for suspended teacher
A standing-room only crowd is present at the hearing this morning to decide the fate of suspended Joplin Middle School teacher Randy Turner, who has asked for the hearing before the board of education.
-
Demonstrators show support for suspended teacher
Most were carrying blue-and-white signs that said “Support Turner,” a reference to Randy Turner, a middle school teacher who was removed from his classroom and placed on administrative leave last month after an investigation by school district officials.
-
Southeast Kansas foundation accepts donations for Moore
The Community Foundation of Southeast Kansas is accepting donations to assist the victims of the Moore, Okla., tornado.
-
Banner from Joplin to be sent to Moore residents
A giant vinyl banner adorned with heartfelt messages from Joplin tornado survivors to the residents of Moore, Okla., became a centerpiece of Wednesday’s observance of the two-year anniversary of the May 22, 2011, tornado.
-
Families in Moore, Joplin linked by disasters
Zach Woodcock knew the storms were going to be bad on May 22, 2011, so turning on the Weather Channel was a natural. What he saw filled him with fear. The Moore resident’s family lived in Joplin, Mo.
-
Nixon: Joplin offers 'a beacon of hope'
Two days ago, after seeing the devastating destruction in Oklahoma, Nixon said, "I believe that you are something else too, something the people of Moore need right now. A word we all remember seeing, in front of the old high school, made from duct tape: Hope.
-
Awards mark Joplin observance of tornado anniversary
Joplin will serve as the beacon for resilient recovery from a disaster to communities across the United States, including recently hit Moore, Okla., said the nation’s secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano.
-
Grant enables 20th Street Project to move forward
A $20 million grant from the Economic Development Administration, announced at Joplin's tornado anniversary event today, will enable the 20th Street Project and the building of a new Joplin Public Library to move forward.
-
Rick Rescorla award named for hero of Vietnam War, 9-11 terror attacks
The Rick Rescorla National Award for Resilience is named for a 62-year-old vice president of security for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. who directed an evacuation of the company’s 2,700-person workforce in the South Tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2011.
- More Top Stories Headlines
-
Obama Offers Drone Strike Defense
Raw: Heckler Interrupts Obama on Guantanamo
A Slice of Apple History Up for Grabs
Johnson: Don't Blame Islam or UK Policy
Raw: 80-Year-Old Climbs Mount Everest
Wash. State Man Arrested Following Ricin Scare
Chain-Reaction School Bus Crash Injures About 50
Raw: Scuffles in London After Hacking Death
Texas Students Coach Teachers on Fitness
New Forecasting Tool Eyed for Hurricane Season
Meet MJ, the Bike Riding Tabby Cat
Britain Attack Believed Linked to Radical Islam
Raw: Kevin Durant Tours Moore After $1M Pledge
Man Shot While Questioned in Boston Probe
Weiner Launches Bid to Become NYC Mayor
School Storm Protection Spotty in Tornado Zones
Moore Native Toby Keith Tours Tornado Damage
