{"id":4172,"date":"2011-01-26T09:46:11","date_gmt":"2011-01-26T16:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stage.headlessnauedu-b6hgdzckfdgxgzhe.westus-01.azurewebsites.net\/?p=4172"},"modified":"2012-11-08T12:01:17","modified_gmt":"2012-11-08T19:01:17","slug":"haeger-discusses-scenarios-in-light-of-impending-budget-cuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/haeger-discusses-scenarios-in-light-of-impending-budget-cuts\/","title":{"rendered":"Haeger discusses scenarios in light of impending budget cuts"},"content":{"rendered":"

The university must prepare for a culture shift of immense proportions as it braces for another round of funding cuts from the state,\u00a0NAU President\u00a0John Haeger<\/strong>\u00a0said during a forum on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cDependence on the state is over in a sense,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat we need to be looking at is how we are going to run a high-quality university in the future with the state being a minority partner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Students part of the conversation<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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NAU President\u00a0John Haeger<\/strong>\u00a0brought together a group of about 30 student leaders last weekend to meet with university administrators for a conversation about the university\u2019s budgeting process and the overall educational experience at NAU.Student participants had the opportunity to meet with Haeger as well as other key leaders, including\u00a0Christy Farley<\/strong>, vice president for Government Affairs;\u00a0Liz Grobsmith<\/strong>, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs;\u00a0Jennus Burton<\/strong>, vice president for Administration and Finance;\u00a0Pat Haeuser<\/strong>, vice president for Planning, Budget and Institutional Effectiveness; and\u00a0David Bousquet<\/strong>, senior vice president for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs.In presentations and table top discussions, participants explored a range of topics that included national and state issues related to higher education, the legislative role in Arizona higher education, the impact of budget on classes and academic programs, capital investments at NAU, the university’s funding formula, tuition, financial aid and enrollment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would like to do this more frequently; it\u2019s such a good way to build relationships and inform students and have them inform us,\u201d said\u00a0Sarah Bickel<\/strong>, associate vice president for Student Affairs. \u201cWe\u2019ve asked these students to go back to their organizations and constituencies to share what they learned with their friends and colleagues.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additional student forums are being discussed as a way to continue the dialogue between students and administrators.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

More than 400 people crowded into the High Country Conference Center to participate in the forum, with standing room only and many people turned away when the meeting space reached capacity.<\/p>\n

With the latest proposed cut of $25.8 million reducing the state\u2019s support to 25 percent of the university\u2019s revenue, down from 41 percent a decade ago, the president said many options are being considered to make up for the loss. Among those options are personnel savings through early retirement and furloughs, tuition and fee increases, and identifying new efficiencies in education delivery.<\/p>\n

To combat the funding loss, the university again will offer the\u00a0Voluntary Separation and Retirement Incentive Plan<\/a>\u00a0for qualifying faculty and academic professionals, which saved the university $2 million in FY10 and is estimated to save as much as $3 million for FY12.<\/p>\n

Increases in tuition and fees also are under consideration, but the president said he recognizes that the universities cannot solve long-term budget issues simply by raising the cost of attendance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe state is beginning to buy down its participation in the funding of public higher education, and the student is having to bear more of the burden,\u201d Haeger said. \u201cWe will continue to look for efficiencies to drive down the cost of educating each student.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the funding cuts, the president said the university will continue to offer the\u00a0NAU Pledge<\/a>\u00a0program that guarantees tuition rates for four years. Additionally, the university offers multiple pathways to a bachelor\u2019s degree throughout the state through community college partnerships and at\u00a0NAU-Yuma<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0NAU-Yavapai<\/a>\u00a0regional campuses.<\/p>\n

Amid decreasing state support, the universities are charged with\u00a0goals<\/a>\u00a0to increase access, boost enrollment, improve freshman retention rates and the six-year graduation rate, and procure additional research funds by 2020.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, Haeger said he is optimistic about the future of the university, citing continued enrollment growth and the recent economic impact\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0issued by NAU\u2019s Arizona Rural Policy Institute that showed the university contributed $1.5 billion to the state\u2019s economy over the last fiscal year.<\/p>\n

Through partnerships and research, the university contributes in numerous ways to the state\u2019s recovery, he said. \u201cWe have to see ourselves as more than just an education institution. There are many other roles that we serve.\u201d<\/p>\n

The president has scheduled several meetings in the coming weeks with students, staff and faculty to discuss options and ideas. The university will solidify a plan for FY12 by July.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The university must prepare for a culture shift of immense proportions as it braces for another round of funding cuts from the state,\u00a0NAU President\u00a0John Haeger\u00a0said during a forum on Tuesday. \u201cDependence on the state is over in a sense,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat we need to be looking at is how we are going to run…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faculty-staff"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4172\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}