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Presidential Blog

Category: State Budget

News from Olympia

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Dear Members of the University Community:

Those among you who watch what transpires in Olympia know that early this morning, the Legislature completed its work and adopted a supplemental budget for the second year of the current biennium. The very good news is that for the first time in three years, funding for higher education and the University of Washington has not been further reduced. For far too long, part of the equation of balancing the state budget in times of fiscal duress has been the erosion of state support for higher education. The hemorrhaging has stopped, thanks to a great many people, including key leadership on both sides of the aisle in the Legislature, the Governor, editorial voices from our state’s newspapers — led prominently by The Seattle Times and its Greater good Campaign — and thousands of alumni, friends, students, faculty, staff, and citizens. We have to keep in mind that our fiscal challenges remain, and we are still dealing with the reductions of the past three years. This budget does not make additional cuts to our funding, but “additional” is the operative word. No money has been added back into our budget to make up for the significant reductions sustained in the original biennial budget. But, nevertheless, this is an important first step on the way to stabilizing our situation and welcome news for our University community and the citizens of Washington.

Other vital pieces of legislation were also adopted during the session that give the University additional flexibility in the areas of procurement, purchasing, human resources, and investment that will ultimately save the University money and generate more resources to support students and our academic mission. It takes a great deal of effort and leadership to see legislation like these bills become law, and we are very grateful to all those who helped shepherd these bills through the grinding process of making law in a democracy.

All of this effort went toward adjusting the 2011–13 biennial budget to deal with further projected revenue shortfalls in the second year of this biennium. We will be at this all over again as we prepare our 2013–15 budget request and resume the hard work of securing stable funding for the future, including funding for salary increases. So while this is a moment to celebrate, I am fully cognizant that there is much heavy lifting to do as we look toward the future.

Sincerely,

Michael K. Young's signature
Michael K. Young

Statement from UW President Michael Young on Senate budget proposal

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The Senate budget proposal released today puts a halt to four years of public disinvestment in higher education. The Senate is to be commended for taking this bold stance. Investing in students and their futures charts a course towards sustainable economic recovery and is the best possible form of securing our economic future. Higher education sets people on a path that provides a lifetime of benefits for themselves, their families, and our communities. The Legislature needs to adopt this budget for higher education.

Editorial roundup

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Here is a roundup from the past few months of newspaper editorials addressing higher education funding and related issues.

February 2012

January 2012

December 2011

November 2011

Gov. Gregoire’s 2012 supplemental budget proposal

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Dear Members of the University Community:Today, the governor released her 2012 supplemental budget proposal to address an additional $2 billion shortfall for the current state biennial budget. As we expected, the proposed budget represents difficult choices for our state and real impacts to Washington’s citizens. The budget proposal includes an additional 17% budget reduction for the UW (approximately $38 million), but most importantly, it also includes tax proposals that if adopted would restore the $38 million cut. Other cuts in the budget have impacts on the University, most notably, $26.5 million in grants for hospitals that provide a significant amount of charity care, particularly the University of Washington health system.

As we are all aware, over the past three years, state funding for the University of Washington has been cut in half. Continuing to rely on steep tuition increases, job losses and reduced access to address state budget challenges is not sustainable. Our students and families and faculty and staff deserve better. A budget that relies only on further reductions without considering revenues would be harmful to our economy and the future of Washington state.

That is why I’m both pleased and grateful that Gov. Gregoire has chosen to take a balanced approach to addressing the present fiscal crisis. By prioritizing investments in higher education, the governor has clearly demonstrated her strong commitment to a better future for our citizens. I recognize that this budget proposal does not solve all of our challenges, and many of the cuts in this budget will be painful for our citizens. However, by proposing a pathway to prevent further deterioration in state funding for higher education, it represents a strong step on the road to economic recovery.

There is still a long, difficult road ahead. November 28th marks the start of the legislative special session, when Gov. Gregoire’s proposal will be taken up, along with other ideas for balancing the state budget. There will be no quick and easy fix to the problem. The University of Washington supports a fair and balanced approach to addressing the state’s budget crisis, and we are committed to working productively with the state legislature in the months ahead.

Sincerely,

Michael K. Young's signature
Michael K. Young

Statement from UW Interim President Phyllis Wise regarding state budget

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It is hard to express satisfaction with a budget that removes another third of the University’s state appropriation, bringing it to just half of what it was three years ago. But these are unusual times, and to its credit, the Legislature did much to try to soften the blow and enable us to manage our resources in more efficient, targeted ways. We understand the heavy responsibility that comes with tuition-setting authority, and our Board of Regents intends to exercise that responsibility with great care. We appreciate the Legislature’s strong commitment to student financial aid, a critical component of the complex equation of state appropriations and tuition. As the burden of paying for college has shifted from the state to students and their families, making sure that Washington’s citizens continue to have access to quality education is our core responsibility as a public institution. It will take a strong commitment from all of us to meet this mission.

Join me for a community conversation, May 18

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Dear Members of the UW Community:

Please join me this Wednesday, May 18, for a community conversation about our budget and other issues affecting our University. I will provide an update on the latest developments, including legislation granting tuition-setting authority to Washington’s four-year public institutions, followed by Q&A. The details for the conversation are below.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Microsoft Atrium, Allen Center for Computer Science & Engineering
12 p.m. – 1 p.m.

I hope to see you there.

Sincerely,

Image of Phyllis Wise's signature

Phyllis M. Wise
Interim President

Join me for community conversations, starting May 4

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Dear Members of the UW Community:

First, I want to congratulate UW President-designate Michael Young and welcome him to our community. His impressive background in academia and public service as well as his extensive leadership experience and commitment to collaboration make him a wonderful fit for our University, and I look forward to working with him to secure a strong future for the University of Washington.

As Regent Herb Simon indicated in his announcement to the University community, UW President-designate Young will take office on July 1. Between now and then, a great deal will happen, particularly in regard to our state budget. With our state legislative leaders currently in a special session to finalize a budget, I know there is much interest within our community regarding issues affecting the UW and public higher education as a whole. To help keep everyone up to date on the latest developments in the budget process as well as the presidential transition, I will be holding a series of community conversations, the first of which will be later this week. The format will be similar to a town hall meeting in that I will give a brief presentation followed by Q&A, but these meetings will be on a smaller, more informal scale. They also will be recorded for later viewing on the Web if you cannot attend.

I hope you will be able join me at one or more of the community conversations.

Sincerely,

Image of Phyllis Wise's signature

Phyllis M. Wise
Interim President