Come to Eastern and find out!
EKU
Faculty Senate Legislative Forum
November
18, 2013
EKU
Center for the Arts
Main
stage
3 - 4:30 pm
Free and Open to the Public
Moderated by Mr. David McFadden,
Exec. Dir. EKU Governmental Relations and
Regional Stewardship
Confirmed legislative panelists:
§ Jared
Carpenter, (R) Senate Dist. 34, Senate Education, Postsecondary Education.
§ Jonathan
Shell, (R) House Dist. 36, Garrard/Madison.
§ Arnold
Simpson, (D) (House Dist. 65) Co-Chair Budget Review Sub on Postsecondary
Education, House A & R.
With a Budget Presentation from CPE President Bob King, and VP Aaron Thompson
When I entered the University of Kentucky as a freshman in
1969, my middle-class parents were able to afford my tuition, room, and board.
I worked full-time every summer, and part-time during the school year to cover
my additional expenses. I couldn’t afford a car, but I had a bus ticket home,
and everything I really needed to get started in my chosen profession of
teaching. I graduated in four years, without any debt.
My experience was fairly unremarkable for its time.
In those days America was focused on increasing the
percentage of baby-boomers who were college educated. Higher education was seen
as having a direct correlation to Kentucky’s economic prosperity and Kentucky contributed
as much as two-thirds of the cost of a college education in the belief that the
state would realize a return in a more productive citizenry – and the state’s
GDP soared.
For today’s students the circumstance has reversed. Economists
say the state’s antiquated tax structure is not responsive enough to changes in
the economy and we could face a $1 billion deficit by 2020 unless something is
done. Revenue growth, which stood at 14% in the 60s, has shrunk to 2% in the
2000s.
The state now supports about one third of a students’ costs, leaving Kentucky
families to make up the other two-thirds.
As Bill Ellis wrote in his History of Education in Kentucky, our colleges and universities
have had difficulty balancing their budgets in the new century with a
full-fledged recession beginning in 2008. Public universities saw their
endowments drop 20%, and faculty raises became rare.
According to the National Center for Educational Statistics
and Forbes Magazine, today’s average US college student graduates in just under
6 years
and leaves school with an average debt of $27,253 – a 58% increase over the
past seven years. At the same time, the median earnings for bachelor's
degree-holders 25 and older have fallen by 3 percent, and delinquency on
student loans taken out since 2010 stands at 15.1%.
These facts will be of no comfort to our legislators who, as
the Herald-Leader reported, will be called upon to address a host of challenges
that include other legitimate public demands in healthcare, pensions, and other
public services. Weak state revenues have limited legislative choices while the
state’s most recent blue-ribbon commission on taxation produced a report the
nonpartisan Tax Foundation called a “disappointing grab bag.”
According to the Daily News, Public education funding
is expected to be a hot topic when the Kentucky General Assembly convenes in
January. The preparation of the state’s biennial budget will be the lawmakers’
major task as they divide just under $20 billion, 45 percent of which goes to
public education. The other 55 percent funds everything else, including
postsecondary education. It is clear this is going to
take some time to fix. It is not an enviable
job.
Amid all of this, higher education budgeting may be taking a
turn. The faculty at EKU has heard talk of performance-based budgeting but lacks a
clear picture of what that will look like. The Forum provides a unique
opportunity to learn more about the Council on Postsecondary Education’s
proposed budget to hear a discussion of related issues with our legislators and
to ask questions.
Program
·
Call
to Order, Dr. Richard E. Day, Associate Professor of Educational Foundations
·
Welcome
on behalf of the EKU Faculty Senate: Dr. Sheila Pressley, Chair, EKU Faculty
Senate
·
Opening
Remarks: Eastern Kentucky University President Michael T. Benson
·
Historical
factors and current fiscal realities: Richard Day
·
Presentation:
Council on Postsecondary Education President Bob King and Senior Vice President Aaron Thompson
·
Responses/dialogue
from legislative panelists
·
Moderated
Q&A
·
Questions
from audience
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