Gov. Rick Snyder

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder promised no further cuts to education in this year’s budget after his second State of the State address Wednesday night.

Snyder has come under fire for signing funding cuts for the state’s public universities and reducing aid for K-12 schools over the past year.

“Our intention is, from where we were last year, is hopefully invest more in education,” Snyder said in an interview with the Detroit Free Press. He added that he while he wants to invest more into education, he does “not (want to) just spend more.”

Kathy Wilbur, vice president for development and external relations for Central Michigan University, said this is welcome news following years of funding cuts for public universities.

“Obviously, we’re thrilled. We’re very pleased by what the governor promised,” Wilbur said. “We’ve had to take some very significant cuts to the universities in the past.”

Vice President for Development and External Relations Kathy Wilbur

Funding for universities was cut 15 percent last year and has been slashed by 65 percent over the past decade. Wilbur said only 16 percent of CMU’s funds come from the state. In the past, up to 65 percent of the university’s funds came from the state.

“Unfortunately, most schools look at tuition increases to offset cuts to funding,” Wilbur said.

Tuition was increased by $12 per credit hour, or 3.47 percent, this academic year for CMU students, and other universities around the state increased their tuition rates by up to seven percent.

Vice President of Finance and Administration David Burdette, right, and Trustee William Kanine, center, listen during the Board of Trustees meeting in the President's Conference Room in the Bovee University Center. A bill introduced in September would create a centralized governing board to oversee the Board of Trustees. (Adam Niemi/Staff Photographer)

House Bill 5000, proposed by State Rep. Bob Genetski, would create an 11-member commission to evaluate the current state of public university governance. The proposed legislation would affect the 13 government-funded universities throughout Michigan, including Central Michigan University.

Genetski, R-Saugatuck, said the bill is not designed to promote a centralized governing board, but rather observe and report on the universities’ current governments.

“House Bill 5000 merely initiates a discussion and forms a commission to take a look at the governance system,” Genetski said. “It doesn’t necessarily advocate for or against a centralized government system.”

The commission would be limited to providing recommendations after evaluating the universities, and will not be given the power to determine the future of university governance.

Genetski said after the drastic hikes in tuition at Michigan’s public universities over recent years, examining university governance could help. However, Genetski said the legislation is not designed to promote any particular government system for the universities.

“I don’t know if one centralized board or government for all public universities is a good idea,” Genetski said. “But I think we have to take a look at it.”

Kathy Wilbur, CMU’s Vice President of Development and External Relations, said Genetski has an appropriate concern about tuition levels for Michigan universities.

“I think (Rep. Genetski) wanted to be able to look at that and explore if boards are engaged to make decisions about tuition as people hope. I know the CMU board is extremely engaged with the process of consideration and debate when it comes to tuition decisions,” Wilbur said. “I do think that there is an interest on his part in considering how other states are organized in higher education.”

Wilbur said even if a committee was assembled to report on the current state of Michigan’s public universities, a significant amount of legislation would still be needed to make any changes to university governance.

“It would no doubt take a state constitutional amendment to bring about a change in the governance of the state’s higher education,” she said.

A centralized board for all 13 of Michigan’s public institutions is nothing new to the rest of the country. According to a recent Detroit Free Press report, about half the states have a central board that at least shares power with individual university trustee or regents. Most central boards approve major decisions.

The funds raised for CMED’s development will be divided up into three areas: facilities, scholarship and operations, Vice President of Development and External Relations Kathy Wilbur said.

Wilbur said over $5.4 million of the $15 million goal has been raised toward the school’s Mount Pleasant and Saginaw facilities, about $5.8 million of the $8 million goal toward scholarship has been collected and $1.3 million has been raised for operations, which the committee hopes to designate $2 million for.

“As I mentioned, there is one land gift,” Wilbur said. “There are a couple life insurance policies that are a part of this, but for the most part, these are pledge payments that will be paid out anywhere from over two years to seven years.”

Finances and the timeline for preliminary, provisional and full accreditation for CMED were discussed at Wednesday’s Board of Trustees’ CMED committee meeting.

Wilbur said an important step for CMED will come next Monday when the committee will begin planning for the Saginaw medical school.

“The meetings will take place really to kick off the planning for that space over in Saginaw,” Wilbur said. “We have been doing some individual fundraising in Saginaw already, but many folks have been very clear: ‘We are waiting to see what the space will look like.’”

Ernest Yoder, founding dean of CMED, said the survey visit by Liaison Committee on Medical Education in mid-November gave positive feedback and that LCME found the school compliant in all areas. He said he hopes the medical school will receive preliminary accreditation after a LCME vote in February, and the CMED committee should receive a letter regarding the results in March.

Yoder said the school is expecting to receive provisional accreditation from LCME in 2015, and full accreditation in 2017.

Yoder said the school must now develop the rest of the instruction and tests for students as they continue to hire and work with the CMED faculty.

“The challenge is that we need to finish the program development. So we’ve designed the curriculum,” Yoder said. “Now, what we’re actively doing is designing the instruction and designing the assessments for the students and that has to be done by faculty.”

Of the 30 foundation scientists that CMED hopes to hire, Yoder said the school currently has about 14. The medical school will also employ 80 clinicians, and about 40 to 45 have committed.

During Tuesday’s Academic Senate meeting, University President George Ross admitted to overstepping his bounds in a statement he made regarding the Faculty Association’s plans to challenge a state law.

Public Act 54 prevents all “wage step increases,” or lump sum promotion payments, after the expiration of a collective bargaining agreement.

Since the FA’s contract expired June 30, about 40 to 60 promoted faculty are eligible to receive lump sum payments for this year, FA President Laura Frey told Central Michigan Life in August.

The FA challenged the law constitutionally with the help of the Michigan Education Association.

Melinda Kreth, associate professor of English language and literature and director of composition, questioned Ross on a previous statement he had made about the matter.

“President Ross, you stated before that based on your interpretation of PA 54, you disagreed with the new law, but were unwilling to challenge it because the other Michigan public university presidents would not support you,” Kreth said.

Kreth went on to ask Ross why he didn’t choose to support his faculty in challenging the law.

Ross responded by saying that he still believes that statement, however overstepped his bounds and was stating his personal feeling of what he believed against the legal realities.

Ross said he was told by his legal counsel they have to adhere to PA 54.

Community college competition

A bill that has reached the state Senate would allow community colleges to offer four-year degrees.

At the A-Senate meeting, Vice President of Development and External Relations Kathy Wilbur said such a bill would have a tremendously negative effect on the state’s universities.

“Community colleges make the argument that this is a cheaper way to offer a four-year degree,” Wilbur said.

Wilbur said initially there would be only four or five programs offered for a four-year degree, but eventually it is the ability to be able to offer any degree of a four-year major.

“We’re working very closely with the governor’s office,” Wilbur said.

Wilbur said there’s a basic misunderstanding of the importance of things like accredited programs, tenure track professors, those with Ph.Ds versus those with masters degrees.

“It is a delicate dance, because I do believe that community colleges play an important role in this state,” Wilbur said. “But, it is a fine line.”

In other business, Provost Gary Shapiro updated several incorrect numbers he had previously reported at the Sept. 6 meeting after institutional research reviewed the data.

“We are down about 340 (freshmen) rather than 400,” Shapiro said. “The number of transfer students this year was the greatest in university history. On campus transfer students is 1,328, which is roughly 50 to 60 more than before.”

A program deletion was also approved, with the elimination of MA in Education for coaching because no one is enrolled. A new program was approved for an MA in Education: Integrated Science.

The vast majority of the funds already received are in the form of pledges, not cash, Kathy Wilbur, vice president of Development and External Relations said in an e-mail.

The pledges are signed commitments from individuals, corporations and foundations and are usually accompanied with the first check of their commitment.

Wilbur said she was pleased with the fundraising process, because the second half of a goal is often more difficult to reach than the first.

A $100,000 donation from an alumna/alumnus was revoked in April 2009.

The next step in CMED’s development is a survey visit by Liaison Committee on Medical Education in mid-November.

In February 2012, LCME will vote to decide if the medical school will receive accreditation, and send a letter to the committee in March.

The CMED committee met at 2 p.m. Wednesday to discuss the progress of the initiative, and prepared to update the rest of the trustees Thursday at the regular meeting.

The CMED committee is comprised of Trustees Sam Kottamasu, Marilyn French Hubbard, Patricia Maryland and Robert Wardrop II. Hubbard was absent from Wednesday’s meeting, but all were present on Thursday.

Ernest Yoder, founding dean of CMED, said they have estimated about 100 faculty, 70 clinicians and 30 foundation scientists to open the curriculum. Clinicians would be made up of family physicians, internal physicians, surgeons and other hands-on staff. Foundation scientists would be molecular biologists, anatomists, pathologists and others medical theorists.

“Approximately seven of the foundation scientists would be from CMU,” Yoder said. “The other 23 will be from all over the country and other medical schools.”

Yoder said the opportunities for promotion, as well as the opportunity to work in the founding stages of a medical school, will draw professionals to CMED.

The building itself is expected to be ready for furniture in late November, following the LCME visit.

“I can tell you from a walk through … the progress that’s been made is remarkable,” Yoder said.

The university is also hoping to start residency programs for psychiatry and pediatrics in Saginaw, Yoder said. They have submitted an application for the psychiatry program and are currently looking at the feasibility of the pediatrics program.

A bill allowing Michigan community colleges to offer four-year bachelor’s degrees is being reviewed by the Senate’s Committee on Education, after passing through the House June 23.

Degree programs included in the bill are energy production, concrete technology, maritime technology, culinary arts and nursing.

Matt Miller, public relations director for Mid Michigan Community College said this could be a positive change for community colleges.

“Some of the degrees are not offered by any of the universities in the state,“ Miller said. “Some of the community colleges do offer associate degrees in a couple of these areas, but in order to get their bachelor’s they have to go someplace else, so it would be helpful to our students to have this option.”

There is a big need for nurses with a bachelor of science, and community colleges can help fill that need, Miller said.

If community colleges offer the nursing program, they would most likely have to raise tuition to offset costs because nursing is one of the highest cost programs for colleges to fund, said Mike Boulus, president of the Council of State Universities of Michigan.

MMCC does not have plans to offer any of the possible programs, Miller said.

“If it passes it will have significant applications,” Boulus said. “I am unequivocally opposed — I do not like it at all.”

The relationship between universities and smaller community colleges is supposed to be about collaboration, not duplication, he said.

“All this does is bring unnecessary competition between universities and community colleges,” Boulus said. “All 15 public universities and the smaller private colleges are united against this bill.”

Central Michigan University is among the universities that does not support the legislation, said Kathy Wilbur, vice president of Development and External Relations.

She said the university has not had discussions about what it will do, if anything, if the legislation is signed into law. Wilbur said CMU has spoken with Gov. Rick Snyder’s office about CMU’s issues with the legislation.

The university expects $333,603,212 from the general fund in total revenue, which includes tuition dollars, state appropriations and other sources. The non-general fund, which includes other revenue such as parking tickets and several other sources, will generate about $95 million.

Tuition Revenue

Tuition dollars will account for $204,496,263, said David Burdette, vice president of Administration and Financial Services.

The number is $7 million higher than the previous fiscal year, which ended June 30. Tuition was increased about 3.5 percent, or $12 a credit hour from $346 to $358 per credit hour.

The 2,118 students still covered under the CMU Promise, a program which locked students in to a tuition rate for five years, will not experience the change.

All students who joined CMU in 2007-2008 when the Promise was active pay $304 per credit hour, or $9,120 for a 30-credit-hour year. Those not covered will pay $10,740 annually for the same hours.

Tuition increases at other universities have ranged from 3.65 percent at Eastern Michigan University to 7 percent at Oakland University.

Kathy Wilbur, vice president of Development and External Relations, said the tuition move will be helpful in dealing with state educational organizations, referencing a message she saw on Twitter from State Rep. Bob Genetski, R-Saugatuck.

Genetski, the chairman of the Higher Education subcommittee in the state House of Representatives, wrote in response to a Detroit Free Press article regarding the tuition news, “Great for students and state!”

Michigan State and Wayne State University have been accused of raising tuition above the 7.1 tuition restraint clause of the state budget. According to the Detroit News, MSU could lose $18.3 million in public funding, WSU could lose up to $12.8 million in public dollars.

Grand Valley State University was the last Michigan public university to reveal its rates when its board of trustees decided on a 6.9 percent increase on Friday.

Pay freezes

Four employee groups will see their wages frozen at least temporarily for a second year in a row; professional and administrative employees, senior officers, public broadcasting and office professionals will all have no pay increases for at least the beginning of FY 2011-12.

University President George Ross said the pay of these groups will be reviewed later this year.

“Given the continued uncertainty regarding the state appropriations funding and the economic climate, 2011 to 2012 salary adjustments will not be given at this time,” Ross said. “University-wide, budget-related employee furloughs and lay-offs will not occur in 2011-12.”

Two other employee groups have also seen pay freezes: the Police Officers Association of Michigan and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

The Graduate Student Union and Union of Teaching Faculty both received pay increases.

The university was in mediation with the Faculty Association, which represents tenure and tenure track faculty members at CMU, at the time, and fact finding with supervisory and technical employees.

Following Thursday’s meeting, the FA announced mediation was unsuccessful between the parties and the FA will also enter fact finding with the university.

The university is looking to find efficiencies by outsourcing some services, Burdette said, and 25 vacant full time equivalent positions have been eliminated.

He said CMU cut almost $3.8 million total from the following divisions in spring 2011 to prepare for losses in state funding: Central Administration, Academic Affairs, Finance and Administrative Services, Development and External Relations and the President’s Office.

“We have put together a plan of $3.7, almost $3.8 million of permanent reductions,” Burdette said.

Financial plan

Burdette said declining state appropriations are a major change in the new budget. The university has lost $12 million in state aid, or 15 percent from FY 2010-11.

Burdette highlighted the decline in state revenue since 2000-2001, when state aid accounted for 36 percent of revenue compared to FY 2011-12, where it accounts for 16 percent.

The university has also intentionally decreased student enrollment by 2.1 percent, University President George Ross said.

CMU will spend an additional $3.8 million on financial aid, $2.1 million on infastructure and $2.2 million in recruiting and hiring tenure-track faculty.

It currently spends $39.5 million on financial aid for various scholarships and grants; the additional $3.8 million will be spent on additional Board of Trustees Academic Scholarships, increased need-based aid and additional Study Abroad scholarships as well as others.

Ernest Yoder, CMED dean, told CMU Board of Trustees members during the CMED committee meeting Wednesday Lanphear is critical to operations due to his previous experience and familiarity with developing and implementing medical curriculum “similar to ours.”

Lanphear will be senior associate dean for educational programs. Yoder said the position was created for him, though Lanphear was unavailable until after Labor Day to begin full-time work.

He will work on a two-year contract to see the university through Liason Committee on Medical Education accreditation.

Joel Lanphear speaks during an open forum in April in the Health Professions Building. (Andrew Kuhn/Staff Photographer)

University President George Ross said it is his understanding that Lanphear’s role will “sunset” after the program is accredited and his contract expires.

Yoder said Lanphear’s qualifications and those of newly hired Associate Dean of Medical Education Dr. Linda Perkowski’s are complementary, which is why the college created the position for him.

“What Joel brings to the table is an architected curriculum model virtually identical to ours,” Yoder said.

Previous plans for the College of Medicine called for the employment of at least four associate deans, though there were no plans to hire more at the time.

Perkowski will assume all responsibilities for which former Associate Dean of Medical Education Dr. Nehad El-Sawi was responsible. She will also begin after Labor Day, and her husband, Dr. W. Robert Fleischmann, began work July 1 as a professor teaching biomedical science.

Steve Smith, director of public relations, said the university does not typically announce faculty or temporary hires like that of Lanphear’s, who is considered a consultant. The University of Minnesota Medical College announced Perkowski and Fleischmann’s departure from its program July 1.

Fleischmann was hired after an open and ongoing search, Yoder said. Both his and Perkowski’s applications were received around the time El-Sawi resigned.

Fundraising

Kathy Wilbur, vice president of Development and External Relations, said the College of Medicine is near the halfway point to its $25 million fundraising objective, but did not give specific numbers on what she called significant additional gifts.

“We’re inching toward (the goal),” she said. “They’re anonymous gifts.”

Renee Walker, associate vice president of University Communications, said CMU would not state the dollar amount raised to date.

At the previous board of trustees meeting in April, Wilbur also said the college was “just shy” of the halfway point to the goal.

Central Michigan University sent out an email clarification Friday to faculty and staff in response to that article, which said no decision had been made in reference to senior officer and non-unionized worker pay for the 2011-12 fiscal year.

In an interview Tuesday with Central Michigan Life,  Kathy Wilbur, vice president of Development and External Relations, said to verify with Barrie Wilkes, associate vice president of Financial Services and Reporting and university controller, but the salary freeze was indeed likely.

“I think it’s going to be the case, I’m not the one who makes the decision, (but there has) certainly been discussion about it,” Wilbur said.

Calls to Wilkes since Tuesday have not been returned.

The clarification sent by the university said the Morning Sun misquoted Wilbur in the Sunday article. The Morning Sun responded by publishing an audio clip in which Wilbur was recorded as saying senior officers and other non-union employees would see the freeze.

“You’re going to see no salary increases for senior officers, and some of those other groups that aren’t represented in a union,” she said in the clip.

Senior officers and several other employee groups did have their salaries frozen in the current fiscal year.

Renee Walker, associate vice president of University Communications, said in an email to the Morning Sun Wilbur was only referring to information presented at a university forum in April, and that the clarification was still appropriate.

In an email, Steve Smith, director of public relations, said Wilbur said the potential freezes were under consideration but no decision has been made.

“Once a decision is made we will communicate directly with our employees,” Smith said.

Tim Connors, president of the Faculty Association and Communication and Dramatic Arts faculty member, was also quoted in the Morning Sun’s original story and said the university had taken on debts due to the university’s self-funded insurance program, which was also refuted in the Friday email, calling the statement “erroneous.”

“CMU’s self insurance program is very successful,” the email said.

Connors said he had no comment on the university’s message.

CMU will receive about $68 million next year as part of the agreement which will be approved by the state House and signed by Gov. Rick Snyder, said Kathy Wilbur, vice president of development and external relations.

“We’re happy (the cut) is not worse,” Wilbur said.

She said a more severe cut in state aid was possible. At one point, universities providing benefits to unmarried domestic partners were to receive an additional 5 percent cut in funding. The language remains in the bill as intended for implementation, but the penalty has been removed.

University funding from the state will now partially be taken from the state aid fund, which was renamed the education fund in the budget. K-12 education and community colleges are also funded from this account.

Doug Pratt, director of public affairs for the Michigan Education Association, said this shift will result in budgetary constraints at all three levels of education, and the budget agreement will deflate the surplus in the School Aid Fund.

“It’s pretty difficult and hard enough to fund higher education,” Pratt said. “It’s going to mean fewer resources driven to students, fewer resources and staff, it is a systematic disinvestment in education.”

Pratt said the investment in education is crucial to attracting businesses to the state as opposed to lower taxes.

Wilbur said she is concerned by the shift in the university’s funding source because it could potentially mean an adversarial relationship between universities, community colleges and K-12 schools.

But, she said, the education fund is more “rich and robust” than the general fund.

“It’s probably a better place to be,” Wilbur said. “The challenge with it is it sets up a more antagonistic relationship between higher education and K-12 and the community colleges, and we hardly need more antagonism, they are our natural partners.”

Wilbur said she does not know what next year’s state funding will look like, but the current budget set up boilerplate language which would allow for a formula that may include per-pupil funding, something she and University President George Ross strongly advocate.

She said the governor said these cuts were a result of a low revenue stream and plans to “hold him to that.”

“Obviously, what we will advocate for is that there will be no cuts like this in the future, and we’ll recover from (this),” Wilbur said. “It’s very dependent on how the state revenues will look (next year).”

State Rep. Kevin Cotter, R-Mount Pleasant, said the budget is a result of compromises and he is happy and satisfied with the result.

Cotter said this budget was created as part of an annual effort with recommendations and projections for the next fiscal year, beginning Oct. 1, 2012.

“It’s dependent on a few factors, like if the economy continues to improve,” he said.

He said he appreciates the patience and recommendations of his constituents, because the budget that will be signed will be much better than the initial proposal.

“This budget is doable, and soundly balanced on real numbers.”

While Cotter is satisfied with the budget, the MEA is “absolutely not,” Pratt said.

“The simple fact is without slashing business taxes by 1.8 billion, these cuts wouldn’t have been necessary,” Pratt said.