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Ross to testify over governor’s proposed budget today; students express concern over cuts

By Maria Amante on March 30, 2011 5:00 am in Administration, Budget / 2 comments

 

Andrew Roeser said he feels the proposed 23.3-percent cut to Central Michigan University’s share of state appropriations is wrong.

The Commerce Township senior said he hopes when University President George Ross testifies to the state legislature Wednesday he will defend CMU and attempt to narrow the gap for public funding of higher education.

“He’s smart. He knows what he’s going to say,” Roeser said. “I trust Ross.”

Ross’s testimony will be heard at 10:30 a.m. during a joint meeting of the House and Senate Appropriations Higher Education subcommittees. His testimony, in which he will speak with the presidents of Wayne State and Western Michigan universities, can be viewed online at http://mhrwms.house.mi.gov/session using Windows Media Player.

Roeser was disappointed that higher education was heavily targeted in Gov. Rick Snyder’s proposed budget.

“When the governor came to CMU, he said he’d try to help the schools,” Roeser said. “I’m not happy … but not surprised either.”

Italy freshman Arianna Arrigoni said such severe cuts to education — even during times of budget troubles — are a bad thing.

“Every time there is budget trouble, education is the area affected,” Arrigoni said. “Educating young people is the most important thing. It seems they don’t see the power of education.”

Kraig Haubenstricker, a Frankenmuth senior, said he is concerned that lower-income students may be priced out of higher education because of rapidly-rising costs.

He said he understands going to a quality university is expensive and the state needs to educate its young people to remain competetive. Michigan should raise revenues instead of cutting funding toward education if necessary, he said, although it is not an ideal situation.

“Raising taxes is something no one ever wants to see, but it has to be done,” Haubenstricker said. “Cities are broke, as a state we’re on that way. Raising taxes will have to be done.”

 

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  • Michmediaperson

    Didn’t these people read this past Sunday’s Detroit Free Press about the outrageous spending by Michigan’s public universities.

    From 2006 to 2010, CMU raised tuition more than 50 percent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 50 percent!!!!!!!!
    CMU raised tuition higher than any other university. You students should not be blaming Lansing. You need to blame our Board of Trustees, Administration and professors.

    Administration payroll at CMU and all Michigan school, according to the Free-Press, jumped anywhere from like a whopping 30 percent to an outrageous 50 percent.

    Likewise, with Professor’s salaries.

    How could this be from 2006 to 2010 when Michigan was going broke under union Democrat Governor Jennifer Granholm. The private sector, the auto companies and their suppliers, Steelcase, Dow and thousands of small businesses were closing, laying people off, cutting salaries, cutting benefits, etc.

    Yet, CMU had the audacity, along with other Michigan schools, to go on a spending spree!

    If you didn’t see the Sunday Free-Press, may I suggest you google the expose. Better yet, as a community service, perhaps, CM LIFE could ask the Free-Press if they could re-print the story and the tables showing the outrageous increases.

    In the story, arrogant university presidents defended raising tuition 30 to 50 percent stating they needed to pay their people.

    Let me say this to you students. Raising taxes is the wrong way to go. Raising tuition is the wrong way to go. If you do either or both, then you’ll never see that money spent in the classroom. Instead, it will be directed to the payroll department at all Michigan schools so employees can enjoy hefty pay raises and pay for their lucrative state employee pension programs. Have you been watching Wisconsin, New Jersey, Indiana, Ohio and other states where they are going broke subsidizing these lucrative state employee salaries, benefits and retirement programs.

    Raising taxes will put more Michigan businesses out of businesses or send them packing to other states.

    Read the comments also from the Free-Press story online from angry Michigan taxpayers and stunning revelations from some college employees.

    No Michigan state college president or employee (outside of the UM, MSU, Wayne medical schools) should make more than the Governor. Even coaches. If coaches want to make 2-3 million like Izzo, Dantonio, Hoke, then that has to be outside income. If the U-M, MSU, CMU presidents left tomorrow, we would have a lineup of hundreds of well-qualified applicants to have the honor to be the university president.

    The Free-Press did an outstanding journalistic job exposing what’s really going on at CMU and the other 20-some state public schools of higher learning.

    Students, don’t be fooled by highly-paid administrators and professors. Read the article! Call your parents and ask them if they received a 30 to 50 percent pay raise from 2006 to 2010. 99.9 percent of them will think you’ve had one too many beers at the one of Mt. Pleasant’s great watering holes. The cuts to CMU and the other state universities are easily justified. In fact, CMU should be forced back to 2006 tuition levels.

    Read the article!

  • Anonymous

    While I don’t care for your right-wing nutjob political commentary, very interesting article. I agree that salary increases are necessary to keep the applicant pool competitive, but not for administrators! Professors/temporary faculty at CMU are being forced into pay freezes and administrators are taking a 23% pay increase?!?! Administrators should receive more than professors, as they have more responsibility, but the salary gap is already significant.

    What is really most disgusting about that article is that Western has a lower enrollment than CMU, yet they receive $30 million more in state appropriations. How did the university ever allow that to happen???