After an Iowa Legislature panel approved Wednesday a proposal for a 6 percent budget cut for Iowa’s regent universities, the state Board of Regents began discussing possible program cuts.

Student financial aid could be facing cuts, including the $2.7 million work study program, said Frank Stork, regents executive director, during the board’s meeting at the University of Iowa in Iowa City Thursday.

Regent Ellengray Kennedy said the work study funding cut would not only hurt students financially, but also hurt the universities because of the jobs students do for them.

“It also affects the service they do for the college,” she said.

Stork said the cut in work study funding would impact at least 1,800 to 1,900 students at the regent universities.

“Our students clearly benefit from the funding of these programs,” he said.

ISU Interim President Richard Seagrave said he was angered by the possibility of the work study program being cut because more than 800 ISU students with financial need benefit from the program.

“I don’t understand the thinking of why they would take this program away,” he said.

Seagrave said he believed the Legislature would vote against zero-funding the program.

“I’m confident they’ll reconsider this and put it back,” he said.

Another concern with the possible budget cuts was funding for salaries and infrastructure at the universities, including the new business building at Iowa State, said Owen Newlin, president of the board. He said these are some of the areas regents should concentrate on when talking to legislators.

Stork said Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack’s $91 million recommendation for state employee salaries would probably fully fund faculty and staff salaries, while the Legislature’s $55 million recommendation would not.

“The governor has committed to full-funding the salaries,” he said.

Final numbers might not be available for two or three weeks, Stork said, adding that Vilsack is recommending funding for the Plant Sciences Institute at Iowa State, while the Legislature is not.

Kennedy said she is concerned about the Legislature deciding where the cuts will come from, rather than leaving it to the board and university administration.

“It really concerns me that they think they know best how to make cuts, and it’s across the board,” she said.

Stork said Vilsack’s recommendation is to let the board and universities make the decisions regarding where the cuts would come from, while the Legislature plans to decide what to cut.

Regent David Fisher suggested the regents talk to State Attorney General Tom Miller about the Legislature’s authority to make the proposed cuts.

“It’s our job to manage whatever these funds are, but it’s not their job to micro-manage it,” he said.

Newlin said the regents need to convince the Legislature how important regent universities are in Iowa.

At the meeting Wednesday in Vinton, the regents also passed the residence hall rate proposals for the 2001-2002 school year.

The rate at Iowa State for a double-occupancy room with a 20-meal a week plan will be $4,666 a year, a 5.3 percent increase over this year.