As the legislative session draws closer, Chancellor Michael Martin is outlining ways to keep the University financially solvent in the coming years.
Martin said during the Chancellor-Faculty Sentate Forum on Wednesday that the University needs to move away from dependence on state money, even though budget cuts have already totaled about $50 million.
Right now, the University funds are about 50 percent state-provided. Martin said he wants to get it down to 20 to 25 percent in the next decade.
Martin said Gov. Bobby Jindal’s newly proposed budget is vague, but he thinks that is part of its design. He said there could be an $8 million impact on students in the best possible outcome.
“This is probably manageable despite the fact that some pain will come from that,” Martin said.
Martin said his ultimate goal is to maintain what the University has today by moving away from state funds and toward business practices and the market.
Currently, the University is prohibited by the state to adopt business practices. Martin said if the University would be free to do this, previously tested practices could reduce the cuts by about 10 percent.
He also mentioned he wanted to introduce more marketing aspects to the University in areas such as football games, housing and eating options.
“Let’s waste no money that can be put into the non-academic side of the institution,” Martin said.
Martin also said he wants to raise tuition and make students to pay extra for class credits they take beyond 12 hours.
He said the students agree higher tuition and fees today may help them in the long run, such as in the job market they will face in the future.
“We greatly underprice tuition and fees,” Martin said.
He also mentioned the Pelican Promise, a University-financed program that gives money to families that are 150 percent within of the federal poverty level and have TOPS and scholarships.
“This institution is probably more moral than others,” he said.
  Video: Chancellor’s Forum
 
Martin said every time tuition increases, TOPS goes up with it.
In response to the decreasing rates of some grad programs, Martin said he wants to decrease their numbers so “excellence can be ensured.”
He also said he wants the University to have control over deletion of programs rather than the Board of Regents’ low-completer program formula.
“It’s happening beyond our reach,” Martin said.
George Stanley, chemistry alumni professor who attended the forum, said he is unhappy with the uncertainty until the end of the next legislative session.
“We really want to know what’s going on,” he said. “I’m hopeful we won’t be cut very much.”
Martin said he plans to optimize programs at the lowest cost possible, but the University has “more immediate issues to attend to.”
He also addressed the salary and retention of the faculty, and he said he did not think there will be much support in raises outside of the University.
Martin said the University itself may have to provide the money.
“If the people out in the state appreciated the quality we have here, they would be more likely to lobby on our behalf,” he said.
 
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Contact Meredith Will at [email protected]