The view of campus is quite different from the 22nd floor of the UW Tower, but the discussion occurring at the Board of Regents meeting yesterday inside the tower mirrored the concerns of the students, faculty and staff going about their business below.

Crime rates and budget cuts, like much of the news this quarter, monopolized discussion at yesterday’s meeting.

Eric Godfrey, vice provost for student life, addressed the board along with UWPD Assistant Police Chief Ray Wittmier, saying that in light of recent safety concerns, about 11 officers now patrol the U-District on any given night.

“The crime rate hasn’t doubled,” Godfrey said. “But the communication level has gone up.”

Godfrey referred to the increase in communication of crimes through the timely warning notification e-mails as a “double-edged sword,” saying that, at times, “sending the noise level up” misrepresents the university community.

Many of the regents, however, feel the “noise” generated by the warning notifications is a good thing, even if they may often put students on edge.

“We all remember the movie Jaws,” Regent Stanley Barer said. “It’s important that people know there’s a great big shark out in the water.”

Wittmier explained that the U-District actually has lower levels of crime than other parts of the city, but because of the level of communication, the perception is that crime levels are higher. But Wittmier said he doesn’t mind.

“It does get us more resources from the city,” he explained.

After a thorough discussion on the issue of safety and an introduction of new UWPD Police Chief John Vinson, the discussion turned toward the looming topic of budget cuts and how they are being addressed.

Much of the discussion centered around tuition increases.

Under Gov. Chris Gregoire’s proposed budget, the university would have to downsize enrollment by about 800 students, but the Senate’s budget proposal is even bleaker and would require the UW to cut enrollment by as many as 2,200 students by next year, Emmert said.

“A lot of students are getting wait-listed, and we are being very conservative with admissions at this point,” said Phyllis Wise, provost and executive vice president. “We have 23,000 applicants this year, the biggest pool in history, and we don’t know what to tell them.”

However, the UW can only cut costs by cutting jobs and enrollment to a certain extent; at some point tuition rates must rise, Emmert said.

Emmert went on to explain that, historically, tuition rates have increased between 16 and 30 percent to counter economic recessions, but during this recession, the university is being restrained to only a 7 percent increase in tuition.

Emmert explained that if tuition rates don’t rise, then cuts made elsewhere could affect students’ “time to degree.” Now, it takes students at the UW an average of 4.4 years to obtain a degree.

“When we start cutting back support staff and course offerings, those numbers turn in the wrong direction,” Emmert explained. “To do that at the price of keeping tuition low is a bad bargain because then students have to pay to stay in school for another quarter or two.”

Emmert said that a tuition increase, with emphasis on availability of financial aid and keeping “time to degree” low, would be well worth the trade-off in costs.

“I don’t think an increase of 14 percent in tuition is unreasonable considering the circumstances,” he said.

Tuesday, university department directors turned in reports to Wise detailing how costs could be cut in their department when faced with cutbacks of 8, 10, 12 and, in a worst case scenario, 15 percent.

“Directors have put a lot of thought and attention into the reports,” Wise said.

She stressed the importance of how, when looking at how to address budget cuts, the university should not only look at the immediate effects but also the effects cuts will have on the university five to 10 years down the road.

Wise also mentioned that in the midst of these cuts are opportunities for the university to maximize its efficiency within departments, citing the possible change in language requirements for undergraduates in the College of Arts and Sciences.

The Board of Regents will ultimately have to approve a budget for the university by June, but with much of the state budget to still to be determined, the board has many more discussions ahead of it.

While the board and administrators realize the need to make cuts in order to keep the UW a competitive institution, no one is looking forward to the task.

“You couldn’t find a worse time in state history to cut the higher education budget,” Emmert said.

Reach news editor Casey Smith at news@dailyuw.com.