For the first time in recent history, the amount of money paid to the UW by students exceeds the amount provided by the state, symbolizing the difficulties the UW faces as a result of the economic downturn that could escalate into a deep recession. This shrinking budget is prompting the UW administration to prepare for the future.

Preparing for the cuts

If the budget continues to shrink, class sizes at the UW may swell as the number of classes offered dwindles, wrote Ana Mari Cauce, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, in an e-mail.

In addition to the shrinking budget, the UW may face additional problems in the future.

Gov. Chris Gregoire has recommended the state cut the UW budget for the 2008-2009 fiscal year by $10 million, said Randy Hodgins, the director of state relations.

Although the state Legislature must still approve this, the UW should start preparing now, Hodgins said.

President Mark Emmert and the UW have already begun to prepare.

To prepare for the cuts, the UW plans to freeze a few positions on campus, cut down on out-of-state travel and probably raise tuition, wrote Emmert in an e-mail. However, Emmert also wrote that there are no firm plans for handling cuts. Tuition increases, for example, will not be decided upon until the Washington State Legislature decides what to do with the UW’s overall budget this winter.

James Harrington, professor of geography and legislative representative for the faculty, said the UW will refrain from making across-the-board budget cuts.

“The administration and faculty seem to agree that we have to protect instruction as much as possible,” Harrington wrote in an e-mail.

The UW is doing its utmost to convince the legislature not to cut the budget further. As more jobs require a college degree, higher education is vital to the economic and political future of the state, Harrington said.

“The UW is one of the state’s most powerful economic engines,” Emmert wrote. “Now is not the time to slow that engine down. Just the opposite; it is a great time to invest in it. We will make these arguments very enthusiastically.”

A large portion of a faculty senate meeting on Oct. 23 was devoted to discussing ways in which the faculty can be heard in Olympia.

House Speaker Frank Chopp encouraged the faculty to make a personal connection with legislators in Olympia and to send letters through the mail rather than via e-mail.

“It’s shocking how few people take the time to send a personal letter,” Chopp said. “Reps get bombarded by e-mails, but when they get a letter, they think it’s something big. They think it’s a tsunami.”

Based on the number of passionate letters received, the most important issue at the UW appears to be football, Chopp said.

The long-standing issue of faculty salaries was also brought up at the Oct. 23 meeting.

Faculty salaries at the UW have generally compared poorly with other state salaries, said several faculty members at the meeting.

Emmert explained that, in times of economic downturn, the UW faculty salaries don’t increase as much as other Washington state salaries. When the economy improves, the UW salaries gradually catch up, but by the time all salaries are nearly equal, another dip in the economy is usually just around the corner, he said.

Harrington stressed the significance of keeping faculty salaries high, pointing out that strong salaries are a critical factor in maintaining the UW’s position as one of the top research institutions in the nation.

“We would like faculty salaries to be at a level with other major research institutions,” he said. “Some of our faculty get teased away by other places, such as the UC system and the University of Michigan.”

Harrington said that, while most legislators understand the importance of funding the UW and keeping it an attractive place for promising researchers, the state has the responsibility to pay for many other things, including K-12 education, prison expenses and debt services.

Unlike higher education, these things are mandated in the state constitution as being a core responsibility of state government; they are not discretionary, Harrington said. Higher education is the largest expense that is discretionary.

Harrington believes the state must run a balanced budget, as the state cannot run a deficit because it cannot print money.

“By mid-April of the coming year, they have to produce a two-year budget that has equal amounts of revenue and spending,” Harrington said. “So if revenues fall, they’ve got to increase revenues by increasing taxes or decreasing spending.”

Reach contributing writer Robin Kallsen at development@dailyuw.com.