News Story 3

Lower Funding Means Big Changes

Large budget cuts cause concern at Bemidji State University

Amy Borgman 

It’s no doubt now that Bemidji State University, along with other state colleges, is undergoing a huge budget cut. On Tuesday October 19^th, the Beaux Arts Ballroom hosted an open forum with university president, Dr. Richard Hanson. He announced that the 2011 school year would experience a 10% budget cut which means it will receive 5 million dollars less than last year. Fall 2010 registration brought 864 enrolled freshmen, and this frightening decrease in funds could blur students’ opinions about continuing their education at Bemidji State.

 Dr. Hanson spoke to an audience of 200 or so anxious faculty and students.

Photo by Amy Borgman

            

             Dr. Hanson began the discussion with a slideshow that highlighted budget elements and introduced a recalibration plan. There were a lot of facts and figures that were clicked over and statements about how the university would approach the impending issue. Then, he took a moment to speak honestly on how he plans to address the problem. He stated, “I am not inexperienced. There is great promise in recalibration”, and that campus administrators would tackle the issue systematically so that the university would only come out better and stronger in the end. This promising change also introduces the unsettling reality that the university will soon be eliminating professors, programs, majors, and other constituents in order to make ends meet. Some programs may just be merged with others and some majors may even be enlarged. The details on any future dealing are still very unclear being that the issue was uncovered only recently.

Dr. Lisa Erwin, Vice President for Student Development and Enrollment, and Bill Maki, Vice President of Finance and Administration, sit in on the discussion.

Photo by Amy Borgman

In efforts to boost confidence in the wavering crowd, President Hanson then referred to his “3 money buckets” analogy to explain the funding that Bemidji State is currently receiving. One leaky bucket was from MNSCU, one steady bucket was from tuition fees, and one hopeful bucket was from philanthropic services. He is confident about receiving some charitable revenue for the reason that administration will be working with a renowned fundraising consultant in January to discuss potentially lucrative campaigns for the university.

Students, faculty and staff were eager for answers to tough questions regarding their futures at Bemidji State University.

Photo by Amy Borgman

           The main reason President Hanson held the forum, however, was for students and faculty to have the chance to ask questions and stress their concerns about the imminent issue. A repeated worry that was brought to attention was that the Liberal Arts Department seemed to be in the gravest danger. Stipulations had surfaced in the forum earlier that afternoon that the Liberal Arts would be afflicted the most by the cuts, as the fine arts often times are. Many BFA and English majors stressed that they didn’t understand why it had to be their department. Dr. Hanson assured the wary students that they would graduate with the major they signed up for. However, he failed to mention the affect it would have on the many undeclared freshmen.

BFA Grad Assistant, Sara Dennison, raised concern for the future of her department.

Photo by Amy Borgman

Another student raised the question of tuition fees and how much of that money is going toward Bemidji State University’s Board Early Separation Incentive or the BESI Program. Public documents on the president’s page on BSU’s website state that around half of student tuition fees are going toward the program set up for early retirement. His response was that tuition money belongs partially to students and they should therefore have a say in how it is spent. He declared, “ I am a strong proponent of speaking up for what you believe in”. If students wished to see any changes they would just have to raise their voices.  

            There was an array of questions asked about things like the stability of individual departments, sports programs, and communication with students. Dr. Hanson answered them to the best of his knowledge, but repeatedly assured that certain questions were still very far away from being answered.

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