MSU Board of Trustees members discuss possible budget impacts

With the state budget awaiting approval, MSU Board of Trustees members discussed its possible impacts on the university Monday, knowing things could change as lawmakers continue to negotiate.

Trustees, MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon, Provost Kim Wilcox and Vice President for Finance and Operations Fred Poston participated in a conference call Monday morning to discuss updates to the state’s budget, though the state has until Oct. 31 to notify the university exactly how the budget will affect MSU.

The House of Representatives and Senate have approved higher education provisions that eliminate the Michigan Promise Scholarship and provide more stimulus money for the university to make up for drastic cuts to state aid.

Officials said the call was aimed at better informing the trustees, but Trustee Joel Ferguson said it was difficult because the state Legislature still is working on budgets that might impact MSU.

“It’s just an interim conversation,” he said. “It’s not the end … until we know what the Legislature is finally going to decide.”

Wilcox said the group discussed how the budget could impact the university’s operating budget and colleges within MSU.

“(The university has made) a 4 percent cut for this year, a 6 percent cut for next year and we’ll probably have some size cut for the year after that — we’re guessing somewhere between zero and 5 or 7 percent,” he said. “It was kind of helping the board members understand how they’re hearing different people talk about … different size cuts.”

Trustee Donald Nugent said he is frustrated with the state’s failure to pass a budget by the original Oct. 1 deadline. Not knowing how much money MSU can expect from the state makes it difficult for officials to plan for the current school year.

“We should have had this budget this summer before tuition bills had to be sent out for the current semester,” he said. “(We’re) just shooting in the dark for what we’re going to have for revenue. … That’s a heck of a way to run a ship.”

University officials previously have mentioned using some federal stimulus money to assist students with in-state tuition or to partially reimburse students who will lose financial aid because of state budget cuts. However, those actions all depend on how the finalized budget looks, Secretary of the Board of Trustees Bill Beekman said.

“Everyone is of the mind-set that it certainly is possible that things could change in a month’s time or thereabouts,” he said. “(We’re) just thinking about how we deal with the cards that the state has dealt us.”