2008 Woodie Awards
Staff Congress supports higher tuition increases
Terry Burgess
Issue date: 5/2/08 Section: Opinion
I am writing this letter on behalf of the Executive Committee and members of the Murray State University Staff Congress.
Murray State's Board of Regents, by their decision at their meeting on April 11th to raise tuition only 6 percent, has seriously crippled the efforts of faculty, staff and administrators to provide an accredited and quality education to the students who attend Murray State. The action of the Board has taken "Kentucky's Public Ivy University" and made it "Kentucky's Roll Back University."
We concur with many of the Board members that we regret the need for tuition increases to help subsidize the budget. However, these tuition increases are necessary because our legislators and governor have targeted higher education as one area to cut significantly in the Commonwealth's budget.
Murray State has consistently provided one of the highest quality and affordable educational opportunities in the United States because of the commitment of the Board of Regents and the administration to adequately fund the budget. Some members of the Board of Regents feel that a tuition increase puts all the weight of revenue funding of the budget on the students' backs. However, the Faculty and Staff bear just as much load when, over several years, they do not receive adequate pay raises to offset cost of living increases.
Faculty and staff must also pay increasing costs for health insurance and services, gas, food and shelter for their families.
These faculty and staff members often go above and beyond, giving freely of their time and resources to help ensure that students succeed and graduate.
I truly wish that each appointed board member could walk a day in the shoes of one of our staff, faculty or administrators to understand the challenges of maintaining and improving the quality and richness of experiences offered to our growing student population, in spite of profound cuts to funding.
The sacrifices, which must be made to meet budget cuts, will severely compromise our status as "Kentucky's Public Ivy University" and as one of the best values in the nation. If any staff member or faculty member would like to find out more about our budget situation or voice their concerns, please attend our joint Staff and Faculty Forum with University President Randy Dunn at 1:30 p.m. today in Wrather Museum.
Terry Burgess
Murray State
Staff Congress Presiden
Murray State's Board of Regents, by their decision at their meeting on April 11th to raise tuition only 6 percent, has seriously crippled the efforts of faculty, staff and administrators to provide an accredited and quality education to the students who attend Murray State. The action of the Board has taken "Kentucky's Public Ivy University" and made it "Kentucky's Roll Back University."
We concur with many of the Board members that we regret the need for tuition increases to help subsidize the budget. However, these tuition increases are necessary because our legislators and governor have targeted higher education as one area to cut significantly in the Commonwealth's budget.
Murray State has consistently provided one of the highest quality and affordable educational opportunities in the United States because of the commitment of the Board of Regents and the administration to adequately fund the budget. Some members of the Board of Regents feel that a tuition increase puts all the weight of revenue funding of the budget on the students' backs. However, the Faculty and Staff bear just as much load when, over several years, they do not receive adequate pay raises to offset cost of living increases.
Faculty and staff must also pay increasing costs for health insurance and services, gas, food and shelter for their families.
These faculty and staff members often go above and beyond, giving freely of their time and resources to help ensure that students succeed and graduate.
I truly wish that each appointed board member could walk a day in the shoes of one of our staff, faculty or administrators to understand the challenges of maintaining and improving the quality and richness of experiences offered to our growing student population, in spite of profound cuts to funding.
The sacrifices, which must be made to meet budget cuts, will severely compromise our status as "Kentucky's Public Ivy University" and as one of the best values in the nation. If any staff member or faculty member would like to find out more about our budget situation or voice their concerns, please attend our joint Staff and Faculty Forum with University President Randy Dunn at 1:30 p.m. today in Wrather Museum.
Terry Burgess
Murray State
Staff Congress Presiden
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