University Presidents Send Letter to Gov.
Kentucky's eight university presidents have sent a letter to the governor, expressing their dismay at the possibility of a bigger budget cut next fiscal year.
The presidents seem to be balking at Steve Beshear's request that they prepare a budget cutting plan, just in case. As I first reported on Tuesday, the university presidents had a conference call on tuesday, five days after Beshear warned them they could face a 12% budget cut on top of the 3% cut he's already requested from them. U of L president Jim Ramsey told me there would be some dire consequences for his institution if those kinds of cuts become a reality (see previous post).
Comments
Academia always has proved itself difficult in dealing with the problems brought to it by the real world. Yet, if one looks at how academia craftily works the levers of grant money dispensation, it must be assumed academia is also very savvy.
Granted the Commonwealth has made demands upon its educational institutions. Surely academia is knowledgeable that those demands did not come with financial guarantees. However, we now see academia whining before the Governor, and presenting him with a list of their goals for deconstruction of the Commonwealth’s aspirations, if the universities don’t get money. What childish petulance! One has to wonder if the university presidents pummel private financial donors the same way.
Academia needs to tap into its own resources and participate in an effort for constructive solutions.
Surely academia’s political science professors can explain to the university presidents that the public trough was just emptied by an outgoing governor who doled out huge checks to entice votes and reward paving contractors. Surely its economics professors can explain that the dreaded recession is at hand, that the piggy bank - which is most people’s home - has just been plundered by lending institutions and a sycophant Wall St., and that a trillion dollar plus war remains on the nation’s credit card, still unpaid. Surely its business professors can explain the realities of a forthcoming environment of diminished availability of funds and expensive credit. If all of academia’s professors cannot explain this to the governing university presidents, then the professors need to be replaced, or the presidents needs to be replaced, or both.
The Commonwealth’s university presidents command the resources to become part of the solution, instead of becoming a protracted problem. Time has come to put the educational bankroll and former investment of the Commonwealth to work.
The Governor needs to demand of the university presidents that they pool their collective knowledge and make a deposit into a think tank. The think tank’s first assignment is to identify innovative ways by which the Commonwealth’s universities can achieve Kentucky aspirational objectives without first always resorting to looking for handouts from government.
If the Governor can’t do this, he can be regarded simply as an enabler of an educational system, flawed at its core, and perpetually dependent on public welfare. If it is in the public interest to make individuals self sustaining, it also is in the public interest that our educational systems be self sustaining. If that can be achieved, our government is self sustaining.
Posted by: Eric | January 12, 2008 8:19 AM
Mr. Hebert,
Has anyone in the media asked Gov. Beshear what his thoughts are regarding Sen. Boswell's casino bills that are in the senate right now? SB19 and SB20.
I keep reading that Beshear is drafting the Bill - but the bill is already in the senate.
Posted by: curious | January 13, 2008 2:18 PM