If the Council on Postsecondary Education gets its way, Western will have a 7 percent increase in state money to complete projects.
CPE yesterday passed its budget recommendation for the 2008-10 fiscal years.
“Our new funding approach is designed to create a tighter contract with state policymakers to ensure they are clearly seeing the return on their investment in postsecondary education,” CPE Interim President Brad Cowgill said in a press release.
The recommended budget will go to the governor and legislators. The governor will propose a state budget, and legislators will craft an official budget to be approved by the governor.
The budget recommends a $174 million increase for Kentucky’s postsecondary institutions over the biennium, according to a CPE press release.
That is a 16 percent increase from the past biennium.
The current budget calls for more than $799 million for the eight state institutions and the Kentucky Community and Technical College System.
CPE is proposing giving Western a $5.9 million more in funding than it did for the last biennium, according to information from the financial office.
In Western’s strategic plan, officials projected a 7.5 percent increase in state money annually over the next five years.
President Gary Ransdell said CPE’s recommendation comes close to what the strategic plan calls for, but a lot of the state money being recommended is restricted to specific categories.
That means that Western won’t be able to use the money exactly how administrators want to.
Ransdell said he feels pretty good about the recommendation, and he supports the budget and encourages other presidents to support it.
“Of course, there are categories where I’d like to get more, but all in all I think it’s a pretty good budget,” he said.
Ransdell said he would like to have seen Western get more money for capital renewal, and a few other areas.
But every other campus would also like more money, he said.
CPE recommended that Western get $5.5 million in the capital renewal, maintenance and infrastructure pool. CPE recommended $90 million for all the institutions.
Ransdell said it’s important to remember that CPE’s budget is only a recommendation, and that Western officials and other state institutions’ officials have to work with the General Assembly to support it.
Ransdell said he’ll spend a lot of time in Frankfort to promote the recommended budget.
The CPE’s budget request comes after months of meetings with university presidents, chief budget officers, chief academic officers, state policymakers and others.
The main focus of the recommendation is to increase access to higher education and to help schools meet state goals.
Reach Susie Laun at news@chherald.com.
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