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The UW Office of Federal Relations has posted detailed summaries of how recent federal budget proposals may affect higher education. As the House Republicans propose major spending cuts for FY 2011 that target Pell grants and funding for federal agencies that support academic research, President Obama has released a FY 2012 proposal that largely protects financial aid and research and development.
Visit Federal Relations often for updates on federal budget negotiations.
Virginia’s Governor, Robert McConnell, endorsed all of the recommendations made by the Higher Education Commission he created last year to explore policy options for higher education reform. The resulting Virginia Higher Education Act of 2011 has moved quickly through both the House and Senate and may soon be on its way to the Governor. The bill provides $50 million in new funding for higher education institutions in Virginia, a UW Global Challenge State peer, as a ‘downpayment’ on the lofty reform goals outlined by the bill, including:
The Washington State legislature is considering its own Higher Education Funding Task Force bill right now. Make sure to follow its progress via our UW BillTracker (bill number 5717).
We continue to closely follow the fate of Washington State’s budget, but are also keeping our eyes on what is happening in other states. Below are some resources that you might also find of interest:
Education Week provides brief coverage of and links to the State of the State addresses as they are made in each state.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) continues to track and report on state budget deficits and policy actions as they unfold.
The National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO) posts links to reports and stories relating to state budgets, including this letter from Governor Gregoire to the Washington State federal delegation in response to the idea that the Federal Government may be considering legislation allowing for state bankruptcies.
The economic outlook for state budgets remains bleak and additional steep cuts to public higher education inevitable, making it imperative to re-imagine how institutions can become more efficient and self-sufficient while remaining effective and accountable to the public. For many institutions greater autonomy from the practices and requirements of state government seems attractive, and this topic is explored in OPB’s latest brief on variations in institutional autonomy among the UW and its peers.
Paul Jenny, Vice Provost of Planning & Budgeting, presented the Governor’s proposed budget for higher education and the UW to our Board of Regents last Thursday. Paul touched on the upcoming state revenue forecast, the Governor’s cuts to all institutions, and the impact of future state funding cuts on campus.
The Regents expressed many concerns throughout the presentation, but a few points proved especially troubling:
As usual, Planning & Budgeting will continue to post budget updates throughout the 2011 Legislative Session on this blog. As we’ve stressed before, the Governor’s budget is the first budget proposal for the upcoming biennium; we have a long session before us and no budget is final at this point.
You may have read a widely circulated New York Times article today concerning the possibility of the federal government creating a pathway for states to seek protection in federal bankruptcy court if their debt burdens spiral out of control. Some policymakers think that the severe economic strain created by the Great Recession has revealed deep structural problems in state budgets that may be unfixable without intervention.
However, in Misunderstandings Regarding State Debt, Pensions, and Retiree Health Costs Created Unnecessary Alarm, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities puts current state budget woes in historical perspective, and emphasizes that, while the near-term future for state budgets across the country remains grim, we must exercise caution in conflating the short term problems caused by the recent recession with the very long term structural issues associated with revenue systems and pension plans.
In A New Funding Paradigm for Higher Education, the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO) puts the Great Recession into context and discusses the cyclical nature of state funding for higher education, which has historically followed a pattern of major cuts in poor economic periods followed by generous reinvestment in good times.
Considering the generally bleak assessment of the speed of economic recovery for state budgets, NASBO asserts that this boom and bust funding pattern may finally be broken. Many do not expect state funding for public higher education to return to previous levels, and this has states, institutions, and other stakeholders wondering what a ‘new normal’ may look like.
Many institutions think that at least part of the answer lies in seeking greater autonomy from state processes and requirements, and more flexibility in managing institutional resources. Whatever the outcomes, many are hoping that achieving a more stable and predictable funding model might keep public higher education on solid ground as we move toward an uncertain future.
Welcome to two new topics on OPBlog: Campus Planning and Capital Resources as they relate to a unified approach to capital planning. We will begin posting on topics related to capital resources, capital budgets, campus planning, and national trends in those areas. This first post looks at planning efforts in Portland and the role Universities play in urban planning.
A 2009 report by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy titled “Town-Gown Collaboration in Land Use and Development” reinforces ongoing research that suggests over the past 20 years universities play a much broader role in the economic, social, and physical development in their neighborhoods. As universities continue to lead the urban planning process with their surrounding communities, the concept of EcoDistricts – planning for sustainability at a district level – may play an important role in the overall discussion of how a community develops. In fact, in Portland, one of the pilot EcoDistricts is in partnership with Portland State University (PSU).
What are EcoDistricts? EcoDistricts are a comprehensive strategy developed by the Portland Sustainability Institute to accelerate sustainable neighborhood development. Through partnerships with the region, institutions, and businesses, Portland created the Portland Sustainability Institute (PoSI). The institute “…brings together business, higher education, nonprofit and municipal leaders to drive a set of next generation urban sustainability initiatives for the Portland metro region.” In essence, it is a not-for-profit that supports the coordination of multiple sustainability efforts to maximize outcomes. It supports the planning of community initiatives at a district level rather than individual initiatives in hope that the district level planning will have a more significant impact. According to Making EcoDistricts, a publication published by PoSI, sustainability is achieved over time. “It’s not the product of a program, project, or initiative, though all these things are important and help.” Portland, Oregon, has embarked on a path of sustainability through district-level planning not unlike campus planning. Although urban sustainability is not new, the approach Portland is taking is being explored as a model for other cities and universities.
Inside Higher Ed has published a long but excellent piece called College Is Still Worth It by Anthony P. Carnevale, Director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.
If you have the time, check out the Center’s full report from last summer, which projects America’s workforce and educational needs for the coming years.
As reported by Inside Higher Ed and many others, the Supreme Court decided this week that medical residents do not qualify for student payroll tax exemptions and must pay into social security and medicare as other employees do.
This ruling upholds U.S. Department of Treasury regulations issued in 2004, which the UW has been in compliance with since. Had the ruling gone the other way, medical residents across the country would have been reimbursed for taxes collected since 2005, and their institutions would have been able to cease collection in the future.