State funding of faculty and staff salaries is essential to helping Iowa State stay competitive against its peer institutions. That means securing funding from the Iowa Legislature for the Regent universities.

Securing that funding is the first priority for Gary Steinke, assistant to President Gregory Geoffroy and director of government relations.

If faculty and staff salaries are not fully funded by the state, tuition could increase to make up the difference, he said.

“Here’s the problem, we want the best faculty and staff so therefore we need to compete on a national level,” Steinke said. “To get a top scientist we need to compete with a top New York scientist’s salary. Faculty and staff is what makes the university.”

Funding salary increases is, in some cases, not an option. Salaries of members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union are mandatorily increased each year.

Steinke said if faculty and staff salaries are not fully funded, monetary cuts will have to be made in other areas. One possibility for saving money is capping enrollment, he said.

“Iowa State’s budget is close to 80 percent [faculty and staff salary]. If you don’t have enough teachers you must limit enrollment,” he said.

However, he said limiting enrollment is not the answer to rising tuition bills.

“When you graduate from Iowa State, you want people to know that ISU is a darn good school,” he said. “But if you start decreasing the number of classes and class size, you start decreasing the value of your degree. You’d be paying more and getting less.”

Mike Banasiak, director of governmental relations for the Government of the Student Body, agrees.

“Faculty is essential to the university. You can’t get an education without them and getting good faculty is one way to increase the value of education,” he said.

To keep tuition costs down, Steinke said students and their parents must talk to their legislators.

“Students and parents must understand what is going on in the Legislature,” he said. “We need a combination of students and parents taking an active roll in explaining the increasing burden [of tuition].”

Rep. Lisa Heddens, D-Ames, agreed students needed to talk to their legislators to help make the state government aware of students’ situations.

“I don’t think that all [the legislators] understand students’ situations and all the other incidentals,” Heddens said. “I don’t want [the results of legislative decisions] to out-price students from even going to school.”

Steinke said he is not sure if the legislators really understand the increasing hardship they are putting on students.

“When the Legislature sees a tuition bill of $4,000, they don’t think it’s much money,” he said.

“But what they need to understand is there is so much more than just tuition. Students can’t just walk on campus and only pay $4,000.”

Steinke is in touch with student concerns, Banasiak said.

“There is so much more than just tuition,” he said.

“It’s food, housing and books. It all adds up.”