Budget takes center stage at UM Curator’s meeting in Columbia
Amid challenging financial times, budget discussions took center stage at the UM Board of Curators’ meeting Thursday in Columbia.
It marked the first public meeting since UM System President Mun Choi announced more than 300 job cuts at Mizzou.
The board approved the $3.2 billion budget for FY2018. Interim Vice President for Finance Ryan Rapp said the UM System is dealing with a $36 million shortfall from state appropriations and an $11 million shortfall from a decrease in enrollment.
Rapp said more difficult decisions will have to be made in 2018. He said all four campuses will review their academic programs. Interim MU Chancellor Garnett Stokes said Mizzou hopes to have a plan for academic program consolidation and elimination by the spring.
Curator Darryl Chatman asked why the system isn’t moving forward with program elimination sooner. President Mun Choi said it’s a difficult process that requires input from faculty and students. He cited the recent frustration over the elimination of the agricultural journalism program at MU.
The budget for FY2019 was also discussed at the meeting Thursday. Rapp said they are asking for a five percent increase in state appropriations, although he noted it’s not a “slam dunk.”
Each campus has also identified a funding priority for FY2019. Mizzou’s <a href="http://
Each campus has identified a funding priority, and the total state request presented is $243.3M pic.twitter.com/Y51J8AZC4i
— UM Curators (@umcurators) June 22, 2017
“>priority is the construction of the MU Research and Education Strategic Redevelopment/Transitional Precision Medicine Complex. The system is requesting $150 million from the state.
There was also significant discussion over whether the capital appropriations requests are realistic. The curators suspended a vote on the requests amid concern that they would be denied by the state. The board must ask the state for capital appropriations in July.
If the state fails to deliver, President Choi said fund raising and internal reallocation may have to be accelerated in order to make the projects a priority. He said the medicine complex at Mizzou is at the top of the list, noting that these projects affect faculty recruitment and retention, which in turn affects student recruitment and retention, so the university can grow its own revenue.
