The Red and Black

Issue date: 10/6/08 Section: Opinions

CHRIS CHIEGO

Seniors, we're in luck. We're about to leave before the University absorbs a haymaker to the gut in the form of massive budget cuts.

These cuts may be as low as 6 percent of the $496 million in state funding to the University, but will likely be closer to 10 percent.

At a recent forum on these budget cuts, University President Michael Adams said "we don't need students to know about this." I disagree. Students need to understand where the funding for our education comes from and how these cuts threaten the quality of our education.

The current budget crisis is not the University administration's fault.

Adams and company have done a commendable job of communicating the budget cuts to the University community through a number of open forums and taking preventive action, such as ending 24-hour SLC operations, to save money.

While the major problems and solutions lie above their purview, the University administration still controls what areas of the University will be most affected, and should do so judiciously rather than arbitrarily; instead of requiring all departments and divisions to cut out a certain part of their budgets, the administration should carefully audit which area can best afford to lose funding.

Unless new funding sources can be found - unlikely since private donations are unwieldy to manage and may be tapped out after the seven-year, $650 million Archway to Excellence campaign - the University will remain dependent on the mercy of the state government.

Georgia's state government faces funding cuts everywhere due to a massive (at least $1.6 billion) shortfall in the state budget and higher education has to bear the same costs as all other state agencies. But the state legislature and the University System of Georgia's Board of Regents, which oversees the operation of all public institutions in the state, can do more to help lessen the blow.

First, capital construction on buildings such as the planned Rare Books and Manuscripts Library ($30 million) should be curtailed and funds set aside for those sent back into the general appropriation. Approving funding for a new library while possibly gutting journal subscriptions and cutting GIL Express seems utterly incongruous.

Though funding for such construction comes mainly from bond issues approved by state legislature, over time the costs of those bonds add up.

Second, Adams has correctly noted our tuition is extremely low compared to our peer schools; the Board of Regents should raise tuition significantly. While parents and students paying tuition may gripe about a tuition raise, this would be the best solution to preserving the quality of our education.

If the Regents refuses to raise tuition levels, one other option would be to have students pay an "academic excellence" fee, which would make up for the shortfall.

But in that case, other fees should be cut or lowered to stop burdening students with fees for ancillary benefits. It would be absurd to keep amenities such as T-Pain concerts while firing professors and underfunding graduate students.

Absorbing these budget cuts will not be easy even if tuition can be raised and extra funds found for the next fiscal year. As a state institution, legislators and taxpayers want to see the University use its funding efficiently and fulfill its mission to the state of Georgia.

We must carefully consider what at this university is truly critical to our mission of teaching and research and make the hard decisions accordingly before the next financial crisis catches us unawares.

- Chris Chiego is a senior from Memphis, Tenn., majoring in international affairs and history.

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