President Gregory Geoffroy painted a bleak picture for the ISU budget Monday at the Graduate Student Senate meeting in the Pioneer Room of the Memorial Union.

Possible budget cuts of $18.5 million created debate among the 50 senators there.

“In order to carve out this deficit, we would have to cut two full colleges,” Geoffroy said. He said there are no plans to cut colleges. Instead, the cuts will be distributed throughout the university.

Geoffroy told the senate it will be difficult for the Board of Regents to decide how high to raise tuition for the 2002-2003 school year. Current projections range between 11.5 and 19.5 percent, he said.

Because of the budget cuts, Geoffroy said he has been asked by Iowa legislators if he is considering leaving Iowa State.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said.

Geoffroy said the $300 million raised by former President Martin Jischke went to scholarships and other projects at the university, and most of it cannot be used for university programs.

GSS President Debbie Martinez said a budget and finance task force, which was arranged by Geoffroy, is meeting on an ongoing basis and will eventually make recommendations about what programs should be cut.

“I think there is a possibility for [at least one] major to be cut,” Martinez said.

She said the final decisions on the cuts could be made as early as the fall semester.