ISU prepares for budget cuts

As the Iowa Legislature schedules a special session to cut $200 million from state spending, ISU officials are preparing to deal with a massive budget cut that will affect university programs and projects.

ISU President Gregory Geoffroy said all three regent universities will be cut in the amount of government funding they receive. Iowa State is looking at a 4.3 percent budget cut, which comes to $11.3 million that will be lost, Geoffroy said.

“To make up for the cuts, we’ll have to delay certain campus projects and use funds from the tuition fund,” he said. “There will be no furlough. However, we will have to halt certain construction and maintenance projects that are currently in progress.”

Among the campus projects that will be affected are the final stages of the Beardshear renovations, the remodeling of Pearson Hall and improvements being made on the Union Drive Community Center and the USAC Community Center.

Government of the Student Body President Andy Tofilon said GSB is focusing on the pending tuition increases that stem from the state budget cuts. Due to these cuts, Iowa State is facing a potential 18.5 percent hike in tuition, he said.

“We are hoping to show [the Board of Regents] what a significant financial burden this is to the students, and we hope that they will be able to come up with a smaller cut for the regent universities,” Tofilon said.

GSB will make several trips to Des Moines to attend the special sessions of the Legislature, he said. All of GSB’s resources will be focused on telling the regents that they and the public universities are partners, and the tuition increase will be detrimental to students, Tofilon said.

“We need to let the regents know that we are willing to work with them, but we want them to know that what hurts them also hurts us,” he said.

Students can get involved by contacting their state legislators and letting them know exactly what types of repercussions these hikes are going to have, Tofilon said.

“Students and parents need to work together to let the regents know that we want the regent universities to be supported at the level they should be supported at,” he said.

“These cuts are going to stop projects and force cost cutting all along the board. I don’t think any part of the university is safe.”