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ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø Advocacy Day Draws Large Turnout in Annapolis

University System of ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø Faculty, Staff and Students Rally for Budget Support

Adelphi, Md. (Feb. 28, 2017) -- ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø (ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø) leadership councils representing students, faculty, and staff met with members of the ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø General Assembly today to discuss system-wide priorities as part of ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø Advocacy Day in Annapolis.

The Council of University System Faculty (CUSF), Council of University System Staff (CUSS) and ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø Student Council (ϡȱÁÔÆæÍøSC) met as a group with key legislators in the morning and during a noon luncheon to discuss system-wide priorities, with a primary focus on support for Gov. Larry Hogan's $1.35 billion fiscal year 2018 state budget to the ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø.

As advisory councils to the Board of Regents and to the Chancellor, these members represent the academic professionals, technically skilled and managerial group employees, and students-all of whom are so vital to the ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø. Council members work diligently to engender a sense of university community and cultivate an ideal environment for teaching, learning and service.

Advocacy Day is an annual event undertaken largely by the ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø councils in conjunction with the ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø Foundation. The ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø Office of Government Relations helps to coordinate the organization process.

ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø Chancellor Robert L. Caret addressed the group during the ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø Advocacy Day luncheon, attended by several legislators after the various ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø councils had met in individual legislators' offices during the morning.

"We are the workforce engine. We are the economic engine of ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø," Caret told the group. "We need all of us to constantly reinforce the message -- that we're here for the same thing: quality education and a strong quality of life for the citizens of ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø."

The proposed total state support for the ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø of $1.35 billion from the governor would come from the General Fund and the Higher Education Investment Fund. The proposed budget results in an increase from the current fiscal year of $26.6 million-or approximately 2 percent for the ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø.

There are three components to the $26.6 million increase in state funds: 1) funding for tuition relief; 2) support to implement SB 1052, the University of ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø Strategic Partnership Act; and 3) funding for operating expenses for new building openings.

The $16.4 million fund for tuition relief will allow for a "tuition buy-down," enabling the ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø to cap resident undergraduate tuition increases at a modest 2 percent.  This annual increase is well below annual increases for in-state, undergraduate tuition that have risen between 5% and 12% from year to year in certain states around the U.S.

The luncheon group also heard from Del. Adrienne A. Jones, an alumna of the University of ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø, Baltimore County (UMBC) who serves as ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø Speaker Pro Tem of the House of Delegates.

"We see in you," she told the students who'd gathered, "our future, in terms of what ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø can be."

With a continued focus on tuition affordability, this is the second consecutive year Governor Hogan has provided tuition relief to make college in ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø more affordable and accessible.

At this time during the annual legislative session, the legislature is considering the entire state operating budget. The legislature cannot add to the budget. It has the ability only to make reductions in the budget. ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø's main priority is to ensure the legislature does not reduce the system's budget and all funding is kept for higher education. 

A critical message during ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø Advocacy Day is that an investment in the ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø is an investment in the state of ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø.

CUSF, CUSS, and the ϡȱÁÔÆæÍøSC urged legislators to remember that strong budgetary support of the ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø helps to ensure the benefits that ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø brings to the state. These benefits include continued economic development and improvement in the quality of life for ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø citizens; advancement of commercialization and technology transfer; and development of groundbreaking research and discovery in such areas as health care, energy, and cybersecurity.

Contact: Mike Lurie
Phone: 301.445.2719
Email: mlurie@usmd.edu