EDITORIAL: Two sides to state of Central Michigan University

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Editor’s note: This editorial has had the addition of University President Ross’ actual quote during the State of the University Address.

“And the state of Central Michigan University is indeed strong.”

These were the words of University President George Ross during his State of the University Address Wednesday.

But just a few buildings over, in a much more intimate setting, another story about university and it’s finances was told.

Ray Christie, vice president of academic administration, talked with the Faculty Association and CMU bargaining teams as a fact-finder listened to both sides of the contract dispute.

Christie’s perspective gave officials in Powers Hall a different look at CMU’s budget than the optimistic messages booming throughout Plachta Auditorium.

He said CMU is more reliant on student tuition money than state appropriations, and showed a presentation about the budget and the $5 million annually going to the College of Medicine.

But he revealed a less cheerful fact about current issues in the deferred maintenance budget.

He said it only receives about $5.5 million annually, when about $13.5 million, almost three times that amount, would be required to keep campus in optimal conditions.

CMU complained about lacking $8 million for maintenance while spending $5 million a year on opening a College of Medicine which is, for the moment, a complete drain on revenue producing no funds of its own, and managed to present the slides right next to each other.

Officials have said there is no opportunity cost on the college and it will help CMU reach the next level of higher education, but this deficit in maintenance is clearly only one cost of potentially overreaching in a time of recession.

If CMU wasn’t sinking $5 million into CMED annually, it would be almost trivial to find funding for maintaining the buildings already essential to serving students in a more than $400 million operating budget.

While the truth about the current financial shape of CMU is likely somewhere between Ross’ speech and Christie’s presentation, CMU can’t complain about budget problems largely created by itself.

We appreciate Ross’ vision for the future of this university, and applaud his efforts to continue growing the school in both programs and prestige when many would simply batten down the hatches and toss future concerns overboard.

However, trading the university’s present quality of facilities and education in hopes of an elusive gold-tinged future is, for students dealing with current conditions, no compromise at all.