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State Representative Gene Pelowski Jr.
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-8637
For more information contact: Sandy Connolly 651-296-8877
Column/LTE
Southern Minnesota MnSCU schools along I-90 take a big hit in Higher Education budget
When the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) system submitted their 2006 budget request to the State Legislature, they certainly believed that some of their budget request would be funded. Instead, MnSCU's requests were totally ignored in the Supplemental Budget that was passed last week. A meager $5 million makes up the higher education funding package this session - all of it designated for the expansion of the University of Minnesota in Rochester.
The expansion of UM-Rochester is touted as good for the entire state and promoted as having no ill-effect on schools in close proximity. Yet, what is the effect of this diversion of funding away from existing schools, especially those located in southern Minnesota?
Let's consider just the Information Technology (IT) budget, the largest portion of MnSCU's overall request. In response to the recommendation from a consultant to invest more in IT, MnSCU requested one-time funding of $15 million. Even though this request was denied, MnSCU recognized its importance and was left with the dilemma of not providing these critical services to its campuses or coming up with the money from somewhere else. They made the decision to move forward by taking $6 million from the MnSCU central budget and charging back another $6 million to individual campuses across the state in order to fund IT.
Basically, this will be felt at the campus level as a cut all along I-90. For example, Winona State will have to take over $350,000 out of its operating budget to finance IT; Minnesota SC-Southeast Technical will be short by almost $73 thousand. The existing Rochester Community and Technical College will take a $179,000 hit.
The operating budget of the two South Central College campuses will be short by $121,000 and Minnesota State University-Mankato will see a decline in its budget of almost $623 thousand, diverted instead to IT. Minnesota West Community & Technical College, with campuses in Jackson, Pipestone and Worthington, will see its operating budget cut by $115,000; Riverland Community College in Austin and Albert Lea will be short by over $113,000.
It's difficult to fault MnSCU for this funding shift. Growth in online learning has exploded, with more than 30,000 students taking online courses each year. Security of information is also a concern, leading MnSCU to recognize that the need for a stable and secure technology infrastructure is critical.
Which makes the total lack of funding from the state even more contentious. If the State Legislature had funded even a portion of MnSCU's IT request, these drastic cuts in campus funding would not be necessary. The question begs to be asked: at whose expense are we funding a new University in Rochester? Clearly, it is at the expense of college students at every campus in the state.
Rep. Gene Pelowski is the lead Democrat on the Higher Education Finance Committee. He also serves on the Capital Investment and Education Policy and Reform Committees.
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