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MU faculty and administrators discuss decreased enrollment, budget challenges

Nora Faris
/
KBIA

During a general faculty meeting on Wednesday, university administrators discussed the challenges professors will face as enrollment numbers dip and budget deficits rise.

With a projected $32 million deficit looming in the next fiscal year, administrators said the university must restrict spending on faculty salaries and campus infrastructure. At the same time, they called for increasing strategic investments in research, diversity programs and graduate student stipends to keep pace with other universities. 

“To get through a decade or more of very tough budget times, we’ve neglected two huge assets of this institution. The first and foremost is the people of the institution,” said Rhonda Gibler, MU Vice Chancellor for Finance.

In years past, Gibler said, the university maintained a balanced budget by limiting faculty raises.

Gibler said the other assets MU has neglected are its buildings, which she said “we didn’t invest in. . .at a rate that any set of experts would have recommended.” 

MU interim Chancellor Hank Foley announced that next fall’s freshman class is expected to contain 1,500 fewer students than last year’s. Foley attributed some of the decrease to demographic changes and an overall decrease in the population of Missouri high school students. He also cited changes in college admissions standards in neighboring states and MU’s negative press during recent months.

With 80 percent of MU’s revenue derived from student tuition, Foley said the decrease in enrollment will have long-lasting consequences for campus finances. The decrease is expected to drop tuition revenue by $24 million next year.

“This just isn’t a blip in state funding that could come back next year. This is a blip in student numbers, which will propagate for four years,” Foley said.

The university could raise resident undergraduate tuition by up to 0.7 percent next year to help alleviate the budget deficit. Under state law, an MU tuition increase cannot exceed inflation.

Despite the austere economic outlook, university officials announced improvements to MU’s research network—investments they hope will enhance the statewide economy and increase the university’s academic standing.

Mark McIntosh, interim vice chancellor for research, graduate studies and economic development, said MU is seeking to recruit high-impact, diverse faculty members; invest in revolutionary technologies and laboratory equipment; and develop interdisciplinary, collaborative research centers, like the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy and the Thompson Center for Autism.

Foley said every $1 million the university spends on research supports 30 jobs outside the university, and the state will feel the impact of the university’s budget constraints.

Under the interim leadership, members of the MU faculty are seeking to build consensus, repair the university’s image and continue its educational mission.

Addressing the faculty, Foley said, “We need to focus on things that are academic again, because those are the things that we love.”

Although the university is cutting spending, faculty members were encouraged not to cut ties with the greater Missouri community. Faculty Council Chairman Ben Trachtenberg said faculty should strive to develop a culture of understanding—particularly with members of the state legislature.

“The campus could do with greater proximity to the legislature,” Trachtenberg said. “There are a lot of folks here who make a lot of complaints about the legislature. There are a lot of members of the legislature who make a lot of complaints about folks here. Perhaps I’m unduly optimistic, but I think that if we knew each other a little better, it might be easier for us to find common ground.”

Finding that common ground will remain important in the coming weeks as state lawmakers continue to deliberate on Missouri’s $27 billion budget.

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