The House Appropriations Committee will be deciding an appropriate funding level for MSU and other state colleges and universities soon. If the committee follows the Senate and governor’s recommendations, MSU will receive nowhere near the amount necessary to bring it to the state-recommended funding level, let alone give us the funding that Wayne State University and the University of Michigan receive.

It is essential that the House committee vote to begin closing the funding gap between MSU and the other major research universities in this state. If we are going to hold onto a tuition guarantee and take minimal salary raises, then the state needs to do its part in this equation by providing an adequate funding level for us.

Please write or call Rep. Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing, and Rep. Paul DeWeese, R-Williamston. Both are on the House Appropriations Committee, and both need to hear that you want them to close the gap for MSU funding.

For more information on the issue, please visit www.msucoalition.org.

Barbara A. Reeves
president, Clerical-Technical Union of MSU