MU’s Faculty Council planned for two very important guests at Thursday afternoon’s meeting: UM System President Timothy Wolfe and Chancellor Brady Deaton were on the agenda to speak.
But minutes before the meeting, Faculty Council learned that Wolfe would be unable to attend, Faculty Council Chairman Harry Tyrer said.
“We’re sorry that the President couldn’t be here,” Tyrer said. “But we’re sure he has a wonderful reason.”
Deaton still spoke to the council on what has been on many minds: MU’s budget.
Since the UM System Board of Curators approved a new tuition policy, in-state students face a 3 percent increase in tuition. Out-of-staters will have a 7.5 percent increase. The separate rates of increase in tuition for Missouri students and non-residents was not done without trepidation, Deaton said.
“Even with this (increase), we face a $22 million gap in next year’s budget,” he said. “It’s manageable with tremendous stress.”
The Board of Curators left a salary increase in the budget, but the amount has not been confirmed. A decision on whether it is a 2 or 3 percent increase will be made later, but Deaton wants faculty salaries to increase in order to stay competitive.
Meanwhile, 250 positions will be cut across UM System campuses. At least 50 jobs will disappear at MU alone, and 20 will be tenure-track positions. Most of those will be open or unfilled positions, but not all of them, Deaton said.
MU is also preparing yet another major fundraising campaign. Deaton hopes that a “billion dollar plus” campaign would give MU the ability to work on faculty salary, especially since this month has been good for fundraising.
“We’ve had quite a bit of success in fundraising,” he said. “That’s not announced, but we’re happy with the response we’re getting from donors.”
A bill in the Missouri House of Representatives, House Bill 1502, would create the Higher Education Capital Fund and could potentially increase funds received by state colleges and universities if passed.
Deputy Chancellor Mike Middleton, who attended the Faculty Council meeting with Deaton, testified in support of this bill.
“Universities bring proposals with private money (from donations and grants) in hand, and (the state) would match it one for one,” Middleton said
Deaton still hopes that Missouri will turn around and give MU more money.
“The state’s got to be there to support a major research, land-grant university,” he said.
While already hurting for faculty members, problems with capacity were brought up. UM-Kansas City is the only school in the UM System that is not having this issue.
Tyrer said he is alarmed by the increasing student-to-teacher ratios, which he considers an indication of hitting capacity, and a planner decided there was still more space for students at MU.
“The statement made by (Provost Brian) Foster is ‘There’s room for a few thousand more,’” he said.
In the anthropology department, there are space issues even in their senior capstone courses, Tyrer said.
“The courses are having to meet in a laboratory instead of a regular classroom,” he said. “That’s very unusual. That does not show up in the statistics.”
