“Partnership requires two-way communication,” she said. “It requires a bridge to somewhere, as opposed to a bridge to nowhere.”

She said freezing tuition could compromise MSU’s academic fortitude.

“There are some times you can freeze things, take them back out and pop them in the microwave and they work out just fine,” she said. “Academic programs aren’t like that.”

Simon acknowledged the economic hardships the university has faced the past year and will face in 2009. She offered explanation for the tuition increases MSU has implemented recently, while criticizing the state for its lack of financial support.

If the state had given higher education as much of an increase in funding as given to the Department of Corrections, MSU would be able to reduce tuition by about $2,500 for each full-time student, Simon said.

She also pointed out Michigan’s last-place ranking for funding increases in higher education during the past five years. If the state had increased funding at the national average rate for the past 10 years, Simon said MSU would be able to lower tuition by 26 percent.

Because Michigan’s funding for public institutions has dwindled recently, Simon said tuition increases were necessary.

“Some of the increases in tuition are there to offset and to sustain the quality and vitality of the institution when part of our partnership hasn’t quite come through,” she said, referring to the partnership between the state and MSU.

Simon said MSU needs to be proactive in lowering costs and restraining budgets.

She announced a plan to reduce growth in health care costs by the end of the year. Currently, the university’s costs grow at about 9 percent per year. Simon said lowering the increase to about 7 percent could decrease tuition by 5 percent.

“Our goal is to reduce cost but not shift the burden to the public payroll by reducing insurance,” Simon said. “We think what we can do is really look progressively at some prevention methods using evidence that hopefully can reduce our health care costs … Everything is on the table.”

MSU Trustee Melanie Foster, who previously has stated opposition to a tuition freeze, said Simon addressed the issue well.

“I think she was effective in voicing her opinion about it,” she said. “I think she was very pointed toward the serious issues that are plaguing the university.”

MSU Trustee Dianne Byrum — who was elected to the board in November and previously served in the state Legislature — agreed with Foster’s assessment.

“I think that President Simon put (the tuition freeze) in the appropriate context,” she said. “MSU has always been a partner and part of that partnership is an open dialogue, listening and a giving and taking that Michigan State is going to remain true to our vision.”

Although many who attended the speech came to cheer on recipients at the award ceremony portion of the event, some students came to listen to Simon’s message.

“We wanted to see how the university is reacting to the economic crisis here in the Mid-Michigan area,” mechanical engineering sophomore Ian Forney said.

“I think that was promising. Some of the numbers she threw out about the budget and health care were pretty astounding, and I’m glad we’re looking for a way to resolve that.”