Students Speak Out against University Funding Cuts
6/25/2007, 6:19 p.m. EDT
By TIM MARTIN
The Associated Press
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A group of university student government leaders from across Michigan on Monday called on state lawmakers to prevent budget cuts that have led to higher tuition rates.
Students said the higher tuition rates have made college less affordable, forced them to work more hours to pay their bills and increased loan debt for graduates.
“It’s a strain on the educational experience,” Greg Jones, a student government leader at Eastern Michigan University, said at the Capitol press conference. “Students have to work more and more. They have less time to study because of the time spent having to make money.”
Greg Jones “wonder king?” Do I detect some Animosity from Abby towards a Student Body Member?
I wonder if Steve will toss a RED FLAG on Contributors misbehaving?
Anyhow. Personally… I disagree BIG TIME with Greg Jones wasiting his time in LANSING (yet again).
When will he learn? The real culprits are the EMU Administration and the EMU FACULTY / AAUP.
They are the ones contributing the most to wasteful spending practices in the EMU BUDGET which have led to such insane things as:
1) Hiring Contractors to plant Adult Trees costing upwards of $100,000. Instead of Volunteers planting Young Trees for next to nothing.
2) Purchasing Video Cameras to watch a Construction Site.
3) University House
4) New Student Center
5) Surrogate Account for the President
6) Going on Strike during a Semester putting the Students Last, AAUP first.
7) How many Bottles of Merlot are still being shipped to the Presidential Palace? Exactly how spacious is that Master Bedroom?
Ad Nauseum.
Of Course.. As long as the JANICE “Wonder Queen” STROH is forbidding GREG JONES access to the EMU BUDGET…..
As long as that’s occuring… I guess “Crying” in the City of Lansing is about the only function Greg Jones is allowed to do.
If any of this madness is to stop…. Seeing Faculty Members INSULTING Student Body Presidents isn’t going to help.
If that’s an insult…it’s a pretty mild one. I think Abby is creative enough to come up with some better zingers that “Wonder King” (which in this context I wouldn’t have read as an insult until you mentioned it, Jeff – in part because there ISN’T enough context for me to make a decision. Besides, since when were you and student government friends?)
That being said, I’m glad that our university is being represented at a state level though I’m not sure how much good this trip will actually do. I can’t honestly believe that legislators want to cut funding from the universities, but I’m pretty sure we’re going to have to accept that there will be one. I don’t think a bunch of students are going to seriously change anyone’s mind.
I didn’t, and still don’t, read “wonder king” as an insult. It sounds to me like a cozy sort of compliment.
I also think it a very good idea to talk to Lansing. EMU is so inward-looking, on all levels, that some external influence is a good thing. Good on Greg Jones, I say.
To come back to the point of the post, tuition increases hit harder on EMU students than on, say, UM students, because, on the average, UM families are in more comfortable circumstances (greater income, more savings, more equity in their houses …) than the average EMU family. I hope someone is calculating tuition increases based on a “real feel” factor — kind of like we do with weather when we combine temperature and humidity, or temperature and wind speed.
A further point. If I were an EMU regent setting tuition for students, I would demand absolute clarity from the administration on where the money is going and how we compare with other universities. I learned from the recent fact-finding experience that the EMU administration does not yet know how much things actually cost and has no clue as to how we compare with best practices, or even comparable institutions.
I think the regents have a long history of rubber-stamping the administration’s budgets, and I think that needs to stop.
AND! Forgiving $1M debt from the athletics program is NOT something that should be swept under the rug. I want to know: what is the athletics program doing to warrant that big chunk of change. And what does Academic Affairs need to do to get $1M over their budget?
“what is the athletics program doing to warrant that big chunk of change. And what does Academic Affairs need to do to get $1M over their budget? ”
Going back to the Sports Facility to be funded by Fundraisers + Big Corporate Guy’s donation…
Part of the reason for that answers your question here. The EMU Administration thinks that by strengthening EMU’s Athletics programs that more attendance will occur and hopefully that means more merchandise sales…. and eventually more money flows into EMU to use for Academics.
We live in an Athletics First… Academics Last environment.
The EMU Administration since day 1 hasn’t let EMU’s lack luster Football Attendance and Football Teams interfere with this.
They want to basically pay for Pray Harrold Renovations through Merchandise Sales at Sporting events, and the Sporting Facility is supposed to change the atmosphere so that everyone wants to check out EMU’s teams.
Haha, well, regardless of its intent, the headline for this post is certainly humourous. Even if it’s meant in a mocking tone, I’m flattered our efforts have been mentioned here.
Myself and a group of students did go to Lansing yesterday for a Press Conference hosted by the Michigan Student Association. I’m happy to say that EMU was the most represented University there, though there was also representatives from UM-Ann Arbor, UM-Flint, Saginaw Valley, and Oakland.
In regards to the utility of students going to Lansing, I’d like to point out that we were not there to “cry.” Rather, we were there to “lobby.” The fact is, the State has cut Higher Education funding so much that the cost is being shouldered by students and we are reaching a critical breaking point. Over the past five years, the State of Michigan has actually disinvested in higher education more than any other state in the Union. Michigan ranks even below Colorado in higher ed appropriations in the past half decade. We are talking about the state that almost had to privitize some of its Universities because they were investing so little.
We have felt the ramifications of these cuts at EMU over this period of time as well. Universities have limited sources of revenue. All public universities rely on two major sources of income: Tution and Appropriation. In the past five years, our tuiton has increased by 36%, just below the state average of 38%. We have gone from funding the costs of a University from only a 30% tuition-based budget in 2001 to a 47% tution-based budget in FY07. It is only getting worse. With the State withdrawing $1.2 million from our FY07 appropriations and delaying just under another $7 million into FY08 we are looking at one of the most dire financial situations to hit EMU in quite some time. Without cutting costs, we are looking at a defecit of $11million dollars because we cannot count the delayed payments as expected revenue. I’ve been speaking with both President Fallon and Janice Stroh, as well as giving a statement at the Student Affairs Committee of the Board of Regents, urging for costs to be cut before tuition is raised.
While lobbying in Lansing might not change everyone’s mind or make money magically appear, it helps to get the message to the legislature: In order for the state to become economically viable once again, it must invest in creating an educated and talented workforce. In order to do that, an investment must be made in Higher Education. We will continue to lobby in Lansing, both for EMU specifically and for Michgian Higher Ed as a whole and I will continue to demand on behalf of the students of EMU that the Administration cuts costs before increasing tuition.
I don’t have much capacity to write anything of substance just now, only just enough to say that I meant no insult at all to Greg Jones. I wrote the title in a pre-coffee dream state. Maybe I should have waited a little longer for reason to sink in, but however awake, I tend to complement in excess when super excited about something. And I am indeed honestly and truly super excited about this. Jeff MacMillan and I have at least one thing in common—getting mighty enthused about obscure issues—and this particular issue of the defunding of public universities is one of long standing concern to me.
Public education isn’t worth the name if students have to work so excessively as to not study at all, or if they have to sign their souls over to some extortionist student loan industry, perhaps going to industry rather than the humanities or the social services to pay off that exorbitant debt and thereby perpetuating the whole cycle all over.
Invest in a bomb, and you just get a big bang and a whole lot of unhappiness and destruction; invest in a student’s mind and who knows, you may get another Einstein (opps—maybe that wasn’t the best example that I could use … ).
I sincerely thank Greg Jones for bringing people’s attention to this important issue. I don’t know if you all noticed, but this is an AP story and thus went national. Greg was quoted in all sorts of papers from all sorts of places from across the country yesterday, and his words were apt and worthy.
People will listen to students when they themselves have the courage to speak up.
Abby, a big “thank you” for all your kind words. We’ll keep working on the legislature and perhaps they’ll get their stuff together and start listening to the Cherry commission and putting money back into Higher Ed.
I would like to say that I attended Lansing yesterday with Greg and the rest of the EMU students, and they did an excellent job representing colleges across the state, and specifically our university. The media naturally gravitated towards Greg for his thoughts on the issue because he was prepared with information and insight.
Keep up the hard work student government. I think that you’ll make a difference for college students across the state. You have my support.
I heard several radio reports on the EMU students lobbying in Lansing, one on WUOM, and it was impressive – Greg Jones was quoted and came off quite well. Also saw it in the papers. So, my hat’s off to President Jones and to all the other “Wonder Kings [and Queens]” of the EMU student body who made this effort! These stories that feature Greg Jones certainly are the best publicity EMU has had in a while! They used FACTS to make a case to our elected officials that this public university, and others too, need public support! Bravo!
Lobbying is a critical part of the political system. EMU has done very little effective lobbying for years, and new efforts in that the department are the best news EMU has had in the last year.
Being a wonder king is a good thing, and I look forward to seeing even more wonders from our new student government leaders in the year ahead!
http://www.wilx.com/home/headlines/8172232.html
Here’s the link to WILX 10 in Lansing with their press copy and also a video (look for the pic with the graph for the video clip) featuring EMU Student Government member Jessica Richardson.
Also, the organizations that held the press conference were the Presidents Council of the State Universities of Michigan and the Students Association of Michigan (newly founded group, formerly the Association of Michigan Universities).
While it’s understood that EMU has budget issues, regardless of who is to blame and what departments are sucking more money than they should, one of the main reasons that tuition continues to rise is because of the funding cuts that the state has made over the past years.
Public higher education is paid by two segments: state funding and student tuition (financial aid would count as tuition). Thus, if one is cut the other segment must cover. In other words if state funding is cut then tuition has to go up. In the last seven years alone state funding has been reduced on a per-student basis so much that a student has to pay more than $2500 more a year compared to 2000 figures. That means that the state has divested (instead of invested) more than $10,000 from each student’s education, and that amount of money has been transferred to the backs of the students. (state average – facts from PCSUM)
What some people are asking for when it is demanded that EMU tuition be frozen is that EMU cut its budget to an equal amount of money that is being reduced in state funding. From my understanding of the budget process and state funding of higher ed, that idea is ludicrous and very detrimental to our educational quality.
It has to be realized that by the act of inflation the general cost of education rises every year outside of any institutional control. So let’s say for example that the state only gives a 2.5% increase in funding for EMU, and pretend that inflation (based on the HEPI – the consumer price index for higher ed) is 4.5%, meaning that the cost to educate a student costs 4.5% more. That means that while it may appear that the state has increased its funding there is still automatically a 2% deficit in funding from the state (it doesn’t cover inflationary costs). In order for EMU to have a tuition freeze, they must cut their budget to cover that 2%. This percentage of cut would only be the case for keeping the status quo of programs, faculty/staff numbers (also no pay raises for anyone), building repairs, etc, no nothing new than the previous budget amounts.
It may be possible to do this for one year, but in reality this is happening year after year, so think of a 2% (comparative to base year) deficit of state funding – 10% budget cut at EMU over 5 years in order to not give a tuition increase to students. That is ridiculous because we need to expand and improve our programs, and wages and benefits become more expensive for employees as time goes on, and buildings are depreciating more as they are getting much older and new repairs – it is difficult to cut the budget parallel to the state funding and is devastating to the QUALITY of our education. So instead, we as students are forced to shoulder the cost.
If the state would increase it funding at minimum to the rate of inflation, than at minimum the status quo can be obtained at the university without a forced tuition hike (which has been the case when in good economic times, such as the late 90s). However, we need even more funding in order to take the burden of the students and so programs and educational quality can be expanded.
We (the Student Association of Michigan and the United States Student Association) believe that education is a right, not some privilege, and the average student is being priced out of a quality education because of funding cuts like this one. More than 200,000 students nationwide cannot go to college because they cannot afford it, even with the grant aid that is available. This is unacceptable. Our quality education is a responsibility of the state, and if the claim that the money isn’t there, then new means of revenue must be sought out, whether that be taxes or some other method.
(Sorry for long comment)
I’m really sorry to violate the rules but I remembered something else I wanted to add -
Faculty should have a strong interest in having state funding increases – universities with strong state-supported budgets are alot happier to give pay and benefits increases to their employees, and tend to have much rarer occurrences of labor tensions and strikes.
I ran across something useful for the community just a moment ago…. Check it out if you *care* about Private Donations and bring the EMU Budget back to shape:
https://www.udel.edu/PR/SpecialUDelivery/vol3no2/endow.html
That is 100% Exactly….What…. I……HOPE….EMU…..Has.
Does anyone know if they do?
If they do…. Then why don’t we get together and start campainging for this thing and make sure it grows each year to counteract the State Government’s Budget Problems?
Jeff I find your last comment quite amusing, given that this is a PUBLIC university. While I understand, and to a certain degree, sympathize with your on-going hassle over donating private funds to fix Pray Harrold and Mark J, I also firmly believe that the state has a very serious obligation – which it has been shirking – to fully fund higher education.
Granholm and others from both major parties continually talk a good game about how important education is to the future of this state, how they want to double the number of college grads living and working in Michigan, etc.. Yet they underfund and actively defund the very public universities that are supposed to be helping to turn this dream goal into reality. See the article about tuition hikes and funding cuts across public U’s in MI (not just EMU) on the front page of today’s Detroit Free Press as yet another example.
Greg mentions larger debt burdens and the need for students to work more hours to make ends meet. I too have seen and heard this same story countless times from students in my courses over the last five years. Every year it gets worse. I have students who tell me they work three jobs to make ends meet at home and manage to pay tuition. Last semester I had several who were on the verge of dropping out for lack of money. I’ve had students who ended up on food stamps so that they could pay their growing tuition bills, all in the quest to get an education that will improve their chances of landing a good job and staying in MI. Unfortunately in the last two years, many of my best students have already left the state as quickly as possible, either as transfer students or else upon graduation, due to the lack of jobs and the lack of real support for education in this state. These are not people who are blowing their cash on beer and pizza; they are hard working, bright students who thirst for a great education and who deserve better from their state government.
Will Greg’s trip to Lansing change things overnight? No, of course not. And I think it is clear that our Mr Jones isn’t suffering from any illusions about that fact either. But representative government DOES NOT WORK WELL if the constituents can’t be bothered to tell their representatives what they want (and what they don’t want). In that vein, not bothering to lobby Lansing sends a pretty clear message that funding cuts and tuition increases are acceptable to the student body.
In a previous thread someone asked what makes EMU a good place to work or study. Personally I think that students like Greg and the others who went with him to Lansing to lobby on behalf of our university are excellent examples of the sort of student that makes EMU a great place. I commend him for his efforts.
The press conference was only the beginning of our efforts to bring awareness to this issue. We are already working on our strategies on how we will continue to press and inform our legislators on the problems with their lack of support and funding for higher ed, which include united lobbying efforts and campaigns, and working with legislators who we believe are our ‘champions of higher ed’.
You’re right that it doesn’t just happen overnight, but we are aiming to build enough momentum so that throughout the year the Student Association of Michigan is viewed as the premiere voice of the students at public higher education institutions in Michigan. We may not get what we want now, but who knows what we can accomplish through the roles we play during the next round of budgeting processes and election season.
The important thing is that we have begun to come together as public higher education students and are mobilizing for change.
It’s great to have EMU in the news for something positive, and if students are the ones who have to spearhead that effort, kudos to them!
Jeff… you stated…
“But, when I see the EMU Student Government focuses SOLEY and ONLY …. ABSOLUTELY ONLY concerning themselves with lobbying Lansing until they are blue in the face for Taxpayer Money that simply isn’t there when Michigan’s Economy is in the dumps…” (emphasis yours)
First of all, lobbying Lansing is not the only thing EMU Student Government is concerning themselves with. It’s just the only thing the AP is interested in. In addition, the press conference was a joint effort coordinated by the Student Association of Michigan and the United States Student Organization, so EMU student government, was not acting independently. Also, I don’t believe that continuing to cut allocations for higher ed funding, thus forcing tuition up, and forcing students out of state will benefit the state economy in any way. Tax money for higher ed funding is an investment in the future, allowing future leaders, including “Wonder King” Jones, the ability to put their future earnings back into the economy instead of Sallie Mae’s pocket books.
As for what Student Government is doing for the Student Body, have you ever asked them or do you just tell them what *you think* they should do or criticize them for not living up to your standards? As for the Student Center and University House, which according to your descriptions seem to be the spawn of Satan, have you ever taken the time to consider the fact that what’s done is done and that continuing to fire irresponsible, disrespectful, hostile comments into cyberspace and over telephone lines is merely alienating you from the very group of people you are allegedly so concerned about.
What ignorance, Jeff – you have reached a new level of offensive ranting.
lesbian/gay jim crow laws?
You have just lost ALL possible credibility, humanity, and listening time that you might have had with that statement.
Gender identity is a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT concept and issue than sexual orientation. Determining what gender you associate with (emotionally, psychologically, and/or anatomically) or don’t associate with is nowhere near the same realm as who you are sexually interested in. I am highly offended and astonished by your statement and appalled that you would add even more distaste by referencing an even more ignorant time period filled with of extreme institutionalized racism.
Mind as well stop posting, since nobody should be listening to you anymore. You’ve crossed the line. You just don’t understand and need to realize that.
I deleted several of Jeff MacMillian’s comments on this thread and elsewhere because I simply think he’s crossing a line by going into obviously (and bizarrely) homophobic territory in discussing the bathroom offerings in the new student center.
Sitedad, I don’t think anyone would fault you if you simply banned Jeff MacMillan from your site. He has ignored every single warning to stay on topic and to not post over and over and over again. The multiple posts would be tolerable if he at least stayed on topic. But he refuses. He’s clearly someone who needs to start his own blog so he can comment till his heart’s content on all of his pet issues. He has shown no concern for the other people here and I think he’s made himself into a real detraction at EMUtalk by flouting your very clear and reasonable rules.
Jeff, please don’t misrepresent the truth here. The existence of the bathrooms was never in question by the senate. The representative from the LGBTRC came to speak with us about the inclusion of gender identity and expression in the University’s policies. Several people had questions about the complex issue of gender identity and expression, but no one called into question the existance of bathrooms as a type of “Jim Crow” as you’ve stated above. Please try and keep things civil.
Anyone can use those bathrooms, they aren’t only for people who don’t associate themselves with a specific gender. Jim Crow laws were meant to segregate and separate people (“separate but equal”) and these bathrooms act as the opposite by embracing people who are different than what ignorant people call “the norm”. If it was a jim crow-like policy, then only a specific group of people would be able to use those bathrooms, which is not the case.
Jeff, I’m surprised you haven’t accused the bathrooms with footwashes to be supporting terrorism, since your line of thought seems to go that way.
They come in really handy after playing sand volleyball in U. Park…
That is crossing the line.
Let’s clarify a little. I was at the Senate meeting that keeps getting referred to and listened to the LGBTRC representative just like everyone else. The bathrooms are gender sensitive by not claiming to be for solely male or female. I learned a lot about gender identity and expression at that meeting and realized that the specific room was very appropriate for the service it intended to provide.
In case you haven’t noticed, EMU is a place that can pride itself on diversity, no matter what anyone says. The campus is located within 30 minutes of one of the largest, if not the largest, Arab-American concentrations in the country. Providing visitors to our campus, as well as students, faculty, and staff a chance to practice their beliefs is our duty.
You imply that EMU does nothing to support the other religions. As Director of Organizational Relations, I can say assuredly that Christian organizations outnumber any other single type of organization out there (unless you lump all IFC, Panhellenic, and NPHC orgs together, then it would still be close). There are also several Jewish organizations as well as those of many other religions, heritages, and beliefs.
No one is saying that anyone must use a specific bathroom (except for I probably shouldn’t walk into a female restroom). The point is with these unisex bathrooms, that EVERYONE can use them.
Finally, for clarification, one of the bathrooms is just around the corner from the Student Government office. Personally, I enjoy it for it’s convenience when I’m hard at work serving the Student Body.
Thanks, Jim Grinias, for your informative and thoughtful comment.
These unisex bathrooms – I don’t get why they are any more controversial than the “family” restrooms at museums and zoos and other public attractions. Narrow-minded people can find grounds to object to meeting the needs of nearly anyone who is not identical to the small-minded themselves.
Ha ha ha! I’ve been visiting this site for about a week now, and no surprise, Captain Krazo (Mr. Macmillan) has found a new home. If only I had the time to tell you folks about some of Krazo’s posts in the pipeline. A former Student Body President, Bobby Murkowski, and I could probably sit down for hours reminiscing about our exchanges with him. Only he could see calling Greg Jones “Wonder King” as an insult.
My only grudging comment about this site so far has been sitedad’s removal of Krazo’s posts. I wanted to see them to laugh!
(You all should hear what he has to say about Blacks ~ it’s so offensive, it’s hysterical)
Now, as far as this topic goes, I applaud the efforts of Greg Jones, but I’m not sure as to how much of a positive outcome EMU will get from this. At the end of the day, we still won’t be getting any funds I think.
I hope Greg doesn’t think I’m trying to discourage him; the fact that he’s doing his part to get people involved is commendable and something he should do anyway. But I think this all boils down to who politicians listen to, and it isn’t the people in our age demographic (because we don’t vote!).
Good work, Greg.
Dear Mr. Jim Allen –
I am assuming you are the same James Allen I had in several of my classes a few years ago? The brilliant, capable student? Nice to be back in touch, even indirectly thru this forum. Hope you’re doing well in all respects, and thanks so much for this information that you’ve shared. And i urge you to consider posting your own comments here, because the views of alumni are very important to discusssions of EMU’s future. Best, Mark