EDITORIAL: Budgeted imbalance


While CMU has done an admirable job of remaining fiscally conservative in most respects, it would do well to apply that conservatism a bit more liberally.

During the board of trustees meeting last Thursday, university officials, specifically President George Ross and Vice President of Finance and Administrative Services David Burdette, touted the $429 million budget approved last week as a balanced triumph of solid fiscal sense.

In many ways it was, managing to freeze the wages for several employee groups for the second year in a row, including several unions, as well as incorporating several other cuts to weather reduced state funding. At the same time, however, CMU is creating new, likely $200,000 a year or greater positions for the College of Medicine. The university has hired two deans, one replacing Dr. Nehad El-Sawi as associate dean of medical education and another, temporary position created specifically for Dr. Joel Lanphear. Lanphear interviewed along with Dr. Linda Perkowski for El-Sawi’s previous job. Perkowski got the job, her husband, W. Robert Flieschmann, got a faculty position and Lanphear had a position created on his behalf. College of Medicine Dean Dr. Ernest Yoder said Lanphear will guide the college through Liaison Committee on Medical Education accreditation, something critical for CMED’s success. CMU’s fiscal conservatism applies to its workers, but when it comes to the CMED, it is seemingly very ready to burn through piles of money. This is all going toward a project not yet generating any revenue and struggling to raise funds. Since the April board meeting, little more than $1 million has been raised, as administrators continue to say they are inching toward the $25 million goal. CMED’s annual salaries, before those of Perkowski, Fleischmann and Lanphear are factored in, total nearly $1.2 million annually. When every other area on campus is seeing cuts, and every academic and service unit is undergoing prioritization to determine potential reductions, it is ludicrous for one still-developing element to get what looks more and more like a blank check. The project has yet to demonstrate its true potential aside from buzzwords and lofty rhetoric. It all sounds like a risky bet for an otherwise conservative institution. CMU delivered a balanced budget, and it deserves accolades for preparing so well for the hefty axe of state cuts to fall. A 3.47 percent tuition increase does not sound awful in any respect, even without its context as the state’s lowest hike. However, the university’s funds ultimately come from the public — whether through tuition, state funding, charitable gifts or investments made from those monies. This demands fiscal responsibility across the board, even if it means delaying the completion of a certain pet project. If the university would like a recommendation of where to start, this editorial board may have a certain place in mind.

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