While Fieldon King Alexander may have no immediate ties to the University, his opinions on state government support for public education and higher education institutions more than compensate — to the point of almost directly mirroring the sentiments of current LSU administrators.
This is not to say University students can expect more of the same under an Alexander administration, per sé, but we can expect him to press Gov. Bobby Jindal on his higher education policies and to fight for the appropriations our flagship university deserves, especially if a speech Alexander gave at last year’s California State University Fullerton President’s Symposium is anything to consider.
In this speech, Alexander decried many of the nation’s state governments and their higher education funding policies, though he actually praised Louisiana’s tax support for higher education and noted numerous national trends in state appropriations to higher education that have affected LSU in a big way.
“Federal student aid is unsustainable,” Alexander said. “If they keep putting more money into Pell Grants, states keep backing their money out. Tuition just goes up to negate the increase in student aid. … States are abandoning their commitments.”
LSU has faced similar difficulties in the ways of consistent budget cuts paired with increases in tuition.
Almost any administrator at LSU will tell you the dynamic between self-generated revenue (such as tuition) and state appropriations is a volatile one, as over the past five years or so, the ratio between the two has flipped entirely.
According to the University’s Operating General Fund Budget, state appropriations have dropped from 54 percent of the overall operating budget to 31 percent since fiscal year 2008-09. This means state appropriations have decreased by more than 40 percent since 2008 — all while the University’s operating budget as a whole has decreased by little more than 1 percent.
Something must fill the hole left by cuts in appropriations, hence the LA GRAD Act, which allows universities that meet particular benchmarks in retention and graduation rates to increase tuition. The problem, however, is that the more a university is allowed to raise tuition for performing well, the more the state seems to cut from its budget.
And quotes from Alexander would have you think the man has been working here for years. In fact, it is at times difficult to tell Alexander’s quotes from those of our own administration.
“Our state funding formulas are unsustainable if we’re throwing money around like that and not rewarding the institutions that are doing the best for the public good.”
“The habits of state funding and the patterns of state appropriations are a big part of the problem.”
These quotes come from Alexander’s speech at the CSUF symposium.
“If the state would stop substituting your tuition income for reductions in state appropriation, [we] can begin to climb out of the fiscal crisis or hole that we’re in.”
This quote is from LSU Interim Vice Chancellor and CFO Robert Kuhn, speaking on this past year’s mid-year budget cut of $3.4 million.
The University needs someone who can take a strong stand against the governor’s office and the continual budget cuts it gives us, and perhaps Alexander’s experience in dealing with a Terminator will have him more willing to handle our Rhodes scholar.
Either way, it doesn’t seem the man will be out of his element facing the tribulations of LSU.
Clayton Crockett is a 21-year-old international studies senior from Lafayette.
