Web exclusive: ASMSU examines university budget cuts at 1st fall meeting

The first ASMSU Academic Assembly meeting of the semester took place Tuesday with state appropriation concerns and an update of documents governing MSU students’ rights among the items discussed.

ASMSU is MSU’s undergraduate student government.

Nick Quigley, ASMSU’s director of university budgets, said at the meeting MSU is facing multimillion dollar cuts in state appropriations that could lead to a mid-year tuition increase at MSU. The organization has been conferring with MSU administrators to ensure students have a say in any decisions regarding cuts to academic programs.

“(Cuts in state funding) would be pretty disastrous to the university,” he said. “If Michigan’s ever going to recover from this economic disaster, they’re going to need to invest in higher education.”

The Academic Assembly has been meeting with MSU Provost Kim Wilcox to discuss the potential impact of budget cuts on academic programs, but with the state Legislature unable to compromise on a budget with the Oct. 1 deadline approaching, discussions have mostly been preliminary, Academic Assembly Chairperson Kristy Currier said.

“(MSU is) still not sure what it’s going to get from the budget this year,” she said. “We’re hoping for positive things because there already have been tuition increases and there could possibly be a midyear tuition increase if (the budget) is cut too much.”

Currier said the assembly will have Quigley review and analyze proposed cuts to higher education funding and will make further decisions based on his findings.

“We were told that there will be cuts this year,” she said. “Right now we’re unsure of what’s going to go on.”

Another task the Academic Assembly has been working on is a revision of MSU’s Academic Freedom Report, a document that lays out students’ rights and responsibilities. The report has not been updated since it was first created in the late 1960s, Currier said, and revisions are being made to improve reader interface, among other things.

She said the Academic Assembly has been conferring with university officials to help make changes to the report.

“(The AFR) is probably one of the most important, fundamental documents for students here at Michigan State,” Currier said. “It’s really important to make it a document students can connect with and understand their rights.”

Dillon Lappe, the Academic Assembly’s vice chairperson for external affairs, said an update is necessary to improve readability.

“It’s cumbersome to read and it’s hard for students to navigate,” he said.