The LSU Board of Supervisors may move funds granted to LSU from the Louisiana Board of Regents to other institutions in the system, and Student Government President Cody Wells is worried about how it will affect students.
The Board of Regents, which determines how state funding will be divided among LSU System institutions, plans to give LSU about $7 million less than last year, a decrease of about 4.7 percent, according to new funding distribution estimates released by the Regents.
But the University will still make about $24 million in new self-generated funds from tuition increases and a boost in enrollment, leaving it with a net gain of more than $17 million.
In the past, LSU System President John Lombardi has moved funds from one institution to another to even the amounts, and he said he can’t guarantee it won’t happen again.
Wells pleaded with the board at its Friday meeting to keep the amounts the way they are.
“We’ve worked hard for what we got,” he said. “We should be able to keep what’s ours.”
The Regents’ funding formula is performance-based, which Lombardi said isn’t fair.
“Research is not adequately represented in the formula,” he said. “If they took that into account, the funds would fall differently.”
Wells said he’s unsure what Lombardi will ultimately decide but hopes he chooses to leave the funds alone.
“Lombardi has called the A&M campus greedy in the past,” he said. “But I’m here representing the students. We deserve to get everything we’ve worked for.”
Board member Stephen Perry suggested during the meeting that the board create a working group to meet with the chancellors of the institutions in the system to ensure communication between institutions and the board.
Perry said the group, which will be created by Lombardi and Board Chairman Hank Danos, will discuss capital issues, funding issues and anything else the administrations of the institutions are worried about.
“It’s going to be a good process,” Perry said. “A painful process at times, but a good process, I believe.”
The board unanimously agreed to create the group.
The board also voted unanimously to pass a resolution to officially oppose the possible merger of LSU Shreveport and Louisiana Tech University.
“We value all entities in the System,” Danos said.
In other business, the board elected member-at-large Bobby Yarborough as chairman-elect for the 2012-2013 academic year.
 
____ Contact Rachel Warren at [email protected]