Speech fails to mention higher ed

After Gov. John Engler finished his State of the State address this past Thursday, the future of higher in education in Michigan may have been unclear to those who viewed his speech.

Engler did not mention the state's 15 public universities, nor did he mention his plans for their funding, during the speech. On Feb. 12, the governor will present a budget to the Michigan State Legislature that will include his proposed funding for the state's public Michigan state institutions.

John Truscott, a spokesperson for the governor, said the State of the State speech is not the forum in which funding is traditionally discussed.

"Typically, you don't talk about budget items in that speech," Truscott said.

Rep. Jessie Dalman (R-Holland) said the governor's omission of higher education from his speech does not indicate a loss of interest in the issue.

"I don't think it was because he doesn't support higher education," Dalman said. "There are other, more pressing issues now."

Andy Hetzel, a spokesperson for the Michigan Democratic Party, said higher education has been and will continue to be an important part of the Democratic agenda.

"Last session we doubled the college tuition tax credit," Hetzel said. "Quality and affordability are always top priorities in higher education."

The upcoming budget plan will be the governor's chance to show his support for the University, said Paul Courant, associate provost for academic and budgetary affairs.

"The state appropriation is an important part of the University budget," Courant said.

Truscott said state universities can expect appropriations to be similar to those they received in past years, which have been very generous.

"Universities have been treated very well, especially capital outlay appropriations," Truscott said. "We've tried to meet every school's top one or two requests."

But University officials said they don't think the University will get as much money from the state as it has received in recent years.

"We don't expect to do nearly as well as we did last year," Courant said.

Dalman said that due to the university constitutions that many institutions have, the state has very little impact on their operation. She said she believes that most administrators would rather run their universities as they see fit.

"It's good that (Engler) doesn't focus on it," Dalman said. "Other than the funding, they'd rather not have the governor in their domain."

Courant said recent funding increases have helped the University expand and improve programs. He said that maintaining tuition costs and retaining key faculty members are direct results of recent years' healthy appropriations.

"We have been able to provide excellent ... education without increasing tuition due to the state appropriation," Courant said.

This year, the University Budget committee submitted a budget request to the state that focuses on the expansion of current University programs.

"We singled out living-learning programs in our budget request," Courant said. "Every tenth of a percentage point is big money. We're just watching and waiting."

In a written response to the governor's address, Speaker of the House Curtis Hertel said public education will continue to be a central issue on the State House agenda.

"In 1998, we must ... focus on developing a long-term strategy to make our schools what we want them to be in the 21st Century," Hertel said.

02-04-98