The State Board of Higher Education rejected a budget-cutting proposal Monday because of objections to funding the Oregon State University-Cascade Campus in Bend.
In a 6 to 4 vote, the board struck down Oregon University System Chancellor Joseph Cox’s plan for budget cuts mandated by Gov. John Kitzhaber at the seven Oregon campuses. The vote forces Cox to create two different budget-cutting proposals: One proposal will outline budget cuts that include funding for the Cascade Bend campus, and the second plan will be drawn as though the $7.2 million campus has been eliminated.
The board will vote via e-mail Tuesday afternoon, and Cox will report the results to the governor.
In October, Kitzhaber called on all state agencies to submit budget reduction plans to offset a projected $290 million shortfall in state revenues. The plans, he said, will help lay the groundwork for a special session to rebalance the state’s biennial budget. The proposals were initially due Friday, but the board was given until Wednesday because they could not hammer out details of the cuts.
Board members voting against Cox’s proposal objected to spending $7.2 million on a new campus while being forced to consider state funding cuts that could reach 10 percent.
“This is not an easy thing to say, but somebody at some point has to say it: We can’t afford the education system we have,” State Board student representative Tim Young said. “Putting another hungry mouth at the table would do a disservice to the programs we already have.”
Young said he voted against the plan because of worries over funding of the Cascades campus. He speculated that at least four of the six “no” votes were also because of similar funding issues with the Cascades campus.
However, officials at Oregon State University expressed concerns that Monday’s vote may signal a lack of commitment to the campus, whose academic programs began in September 2001.
“This could become a self-fulfilling prophecy in terms of students who are deciding to attend the university this year,” OSU Provost Tim White said. “It is a great concern that we do not lose enrollment over this conversation.”
Construction on a building to house faculty offices and classrooms will be completed in August 2002. Also, OSU is in the process of hiring faculty members and an “executive officer” to run the campus.
Board member Erin Watari, who voted for the budget proposal, agrees that the Cascades campus could suffer because of apparent lack of commitment to the campus.
“I don’t think we can back out on our commitment,” she said, pointing out that a 20-year lease was signed for the new building.
Watari also questioned the timing of opposition to Bend, just days before budget cutting plans are due.
The Board originally met on Friday to discuss proposals to cut the state budget. However, they asked Cox to revise some of the proposals to protect statewide public service programs, research funds and new engineering programs. Cox said his plan took those concerns into account as well as educational priorities of the legislature and the governor.