All of that is good, all of that is useful; and I never shy away from speaking to any audience about KU. I do wonder, however, whether our listeners don't need to also hear the story from people outside of education.
More and more, the story is simple (and it may sound familiar). The debts we accumulate as a society, when we neglect the state's system of public education, will come due. The neglect is payable in full, in the form of future economic stagnation, a declining tax base, and a diminishing quality of life. The answer is also simple: restore education to a place of high priority, not with lip service but with an appropriate level of financial support.
For this answer to take, however, the chancellor's voice needs to be joined by others whose stake in the matter is less obvious. That's why I was so encouraged by a recent presentation that Bill Hall, the President of the Hall Family Foundation, made to the Kansas Board of Regents.
The Hall Family Foundation (created through Hallmark Cards) has been exceedingly generous to KU, providing major private funding for the biomedical research facility that will soon be built at the KUMC campus as well as the new Hall Center for the Humanities on the Lawrence Campus. When Bill Hall talks, people listen (including me).
He spoke to the Regents on behalf of the Civic Council of Greater Kansas City, which contracted with outside consultants earlier this year to examine three issues related to state funding of higher education in Kansas:
• Has public financial support declined since 1990 to a level below national
averages?
• Are state appropriations in Kansas "low" relative to the Big 12 states?
• Are faculty salaries lagging?
The results were sobering to those in attendance (including the news media, which covered the session extensively). The results were not really news to me or my counterparts. What was different was the messenger.
The quick answer to the three questions is "yes, yes, and yes." What the consultants found was that:
"Public financial support for higher education in Kansas had declined, and would require an additional $161.6 million in 2001-02 to reach the level of support received in 1989-90."
"Appropriations per student for higher education in Kansas were below the national average . . [and] among the Big 12 states, only Colorado had a lower index of [state] appropriations per student."
"Average 2000-01 faculty salaries at all [public] universities except Washburn were less than the average for similar universities."
The research also indicated that 86% of Kansans feel public higher education in the state is excellent or good now, though they are concerned that the best students leave for better opportunities elsewhere.
While 87% of those surveyed feel higher education funding should be a high priority for lawmakers, about half also said current levels of tax-supported funding are adequate. Their solution: more private donations from alumni and others.
What the study revealed was a sense of complacency, a feeling that the current system of public higher education is adequate and doesn't need more funding from the state. This, despite the fact that 81% of the respondents have attended a college or university in Kansas.
What was encouraging to me was the rest of what Bill Hall had to say. He
talked about plans to form a private group called Citizens for Higher
Education, Inc., whose mission will be to:
• Create passion and vision for a knowledge-based state through a multi-year
awareness campaign;
• Demonstrate that higher education equals economic vibrancy, development, and
intellectual/cultural advancement; and
• Support K-12.
This message is consistent with the one I give to every legislator, service club and alumni gathering I meet, but it's helpful to hear it coming from a new source.
Hall's presentation concluded with this challenge:
"For Kansas to gain a competitive edge in a knowledge-driven economy, we must act now or risk being left behind. We must convince Kansans that their colleges and universities are critical to their success, the success of their children, and the future of their state."
This is a powerful message. The Kansas Board of Regents, and those of us who lead the state's public universities, will do whatever we can to support what Bill Hall and the Civic Council of Greater Kansas City have proposed. When you have more than one voice, you have a choir, and a louder, stronger message that's hard to ignore.
• [This was written prior to Governor Graves budget reduction announcement on November 26. I will be sending a second memo in a week that will talk about the latest budget cuts and our ability to deal with them.]
Bob Hemenway
Chancellor
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