The governor’s back in town.
Gov. Bill Haslam will speak at Hollingsworth Auditorium Friday for the Board of Trustees’ October meeting. Although Haslam is chair of the board and governing body of the UT System, he does not usually attend, allowing the vice-president to preside over the meeting.
Gov. Haslam is in the midst of a budget crisis, the result of lagging state revenues from taxes. Last year, the state government found itself in a $300 million budget deficit after two of the main business’ taxes grossly underperformed.
This week, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported Haslam has asked all state agencies to cut 7 percent from their budget to accommodate more modest state revenues.
As the fiscal year 2015 state budget failed to fully fund UT, the Board of Trustees raised tuition 6 percent for most undergraduates, as opposed to the 2 to 3 percent tuition increase the board aims for in years of strong state funding.
During the Board of Trustees’ June meeting, UT System President Joe DiPietro asked for help in lobbying for more education dollars.
“We have to move forward with developing a coalition for investment in the state,” DiPietro said.
Failure to raise the expected revenue led to speculation by DiPietro that the current state funding model is broken.
Gina Stafford, assistant vice president and director of communications, said while DiPietro will not address specifics, he will continue the conversation he started this summer.
“It’s a matter of giving more context,” Stafford said, “Giving more information that will help the trustees have insight into the funding challenges.
“We’re just on the front end of that conversation now.”
Despite questionable state funding, Stafford said that administrative-level discussion of these issues makes her optimistic about UT’s financial future.
“It will be interesting to see where this conversation on the funding model will go next,” Stafford said.
Other items on the agenda include Chancellor Jimmy Cheek’s update on Top 25, performance review for top administrators, transfer of property and the granting of tenure to faculty members.
This meeting will also be the first for R.J. Duncan, the UTK student representative on the Board of Trustees, since his appointment was publicly announced. While Duncan acted in his position at the June meeting, he was not announced by the governor until September.
Duncan, a junior in finance, said he looks forward to providing the board with student input.
“I seek to serve the student voice to the best of my abilities,” he said. “I want to know what students think. Doesn’t matter who they are or where they’re coming from, we’re all students at this university and unless we unite, we don’t have any strength.”
