ࡱ > ) + ( c q bjbjt+t+ > A A ] z z z z 8 " h J J " l l $ + " z z l q J : z 8 l z z z z E r & T > P! O : z MARYLAND SENATE BUDGET AND TAXATION
SUBCOMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, BUSINESS AND ADMINISTRATION
HEARING ON UNIVERSITY SYSTEM OF MARYLAND OFFICE BUDGET
FOR FISCAL YEAR 2006
FEBRUARY 22, 2005
Testimony of ϡȱ Chancellor William E. Kirwan
Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, I am pleased to join you today in support of the ϡȱ Offices budget.
I will endeavor to keep my comments brief today, covering three areas. First, I will provide a brief overview of the system office. Second, I will discuss the budget proposal and what the funding will enable us to do. Finally, I will address the key issues raised by the legislative analyst.
As you know, the ϡȱ Office serves as the staff to the Board of Regents; assists ϡȱ institutions in fulfilling their individual missions; coordinates the collaborative efforts of ϡȱ institutions; facilitates the interactions of the System with the other segments of higher education in the state and the K-12 community; and performs a number of system-wide functions. Essentially, we are the corporate office of ϡȱs $3.3-billion public university system.
You are aware that the ϡȱ has faced significant budgetary challenges in recent years, and the System Office has been at the forefrontboth internally and externallyin addressing these challenges.
Perhaps the most telling example of our aggressive approach can be seen in the staffing levels within the ϡȱ Office. In FY02, we stood at 101 state-funded employees. Today our state-supported staffing level stands at 80 employees. That is a personnel reduction of more than 20%. I would imagine this level of reduction rivals any other state agency. Table 1 (attached) illustrates the fact that even as the ϡȱ is one of the nations largest systems in terms of student headcount, we have one of the lowest administrative budgets.
It has also been a mission of the System Office to generate significant savings system-wide, primarily through our Effectiveness and Efficiency initiative, to which Chairman Kendall spoke.
I stress that our E&E initiative was just one example of the systematic approach we are taking to reengineer the ϡȱ in light of the new reality facing public higher education, while remaining focused on our shared goals of excellence, affordability and accessibility.
- We have updated our Strategic Plan to address these changing circumstances.
- We established a Tuition Task Force to emphasize stability and predictability with regard to tuition.
- The recently completed work of our Financial Aid Task Force addresses the need to provide affordability and enhanced access, especially to our students with the greatest financial need.
Additionally, other vital efforts are driven or coordinated by the ϡȱ Office.
Regional Education Centers
As Chairman Kendall noted, the ϡȱ Office oversees the development and management of ϡȱs two regional centers, the Universities at Shady Grove and the ϡȱ at Hagerstown. The centers represent a commitment to partnerships among the ϡȱ institutions, special relationships with ϡȱ community colleges, and close collaboration with the business and civic leaders at the county and state levels.
The Universities at Shady Grove serves 1500 undergraduate and 600 graduate students enrolled full-time and part-time in 27 degree and certificate programs offered by seven ϡȱ institutions. Last spring participating universities awarded 369 baccalaureate degrees to students at Shady Grove, bringing the total number of students who have received baccalaureates through the USG to 687 since its inception.
In addition to the points made by Cliff regarding the ϡȱ at Hagerstown, I would also like to note that the Hagerstown center opened on time, under budget, and with enormous enthusiasm and support from the community.
Partnerships with Public Schools and Community Colleges
Currently the ϡȱ Office has on-going partnerships with three area school districts: Baltimore City Public Schools, Montgomery County Public Schools, and Prince Georges County Public Schools to address teacher shortage, teacher retention, teacher recruitment, and teacher professional development. These federally-funded partnerships were made possible by our Office of Academic Affairs.
Similar innovative partnerships exist between the System Office and ϡȱs community colleges, streamlining the ability of students to move from a community college to a System institution. In fact, people are often amazed when they learn that for the overwhelming majority of students attending community college, the fact is if you complete your community college degree, you WILL be accepted into a ϡȱ institution. And the transfer students tend to do just as well as native students.
Collective Bargaining
It has been the System Officeworking with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employeesthat has crested a coalition approach to collective bargaining on major issues. Thirteen of 23 MOUs have been approved by the Regents, with three more likely presented for approval in February. The remaining seven are still being negotiated.
Office of Civil Rights
The System Office continues to work with the Office of Civil Rights on the implementation of the agreement enhancing our historically black institutions.
Bond Rating
The ϡȱ Office was able to protect the System's bond rating through improvement in the financial health ratio of fund balance to outstanding debt. And while one rating agency, Standard & Poor's, did lower its rating to conform with the ratings of the other two ratings agencies, the University System continues to improve its financial health.
Turning now to the budget proposal . . .
Clearly, the ϡȱ office will continue the aggressive pursuit of cost savings and cost avoidance through our E & E efforts, will continue to coordinate the work of our member institutions, will build upon on K-12 and community college partnerships, and continue our other vital efforts. However, in terms of this years proposed budget increase, more than 80% of the additional $1.8 million in General Funds for the ϡȱ Office ($1.5 million) will be targeted to our Regional Centers. These dollars will provide academic program and facilities funding for Hagerstown and enhance student services and technology at Shady Grove. The continued growth and development of these centers in this era of surging enrollment and limited funding is vital, and these entities will be the primary recipient of our additional funding.
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