Universities post economic contibutions report to curb cutbacks- Legislators tour MSU

The Montana University System has high hopes for a new Web site http://extn.msu.montana.edu/montanainvests and report it launched this week in Helena, which outlines how higher education helps drive the state’s economy.

By BETSY COHEN of the Missoulian

If the information is absorbed as university leaders intend, it will prompt lawmakers to view higher education as an anchor state business that needs more legislative support, said Robert Duringer, vice president of administration and finance at the University of Montana.

University administrators behind the "Montana Invests" campaign believe Montana’s campuses represent eight different economic regions, which combined, create one of the largest industries in the state.

***************

Access the "Montana Invests" Web site at http://extn.msu.montana.edu/montanainvests To obtain a copy of the report Montana legislators recently were given, contact the University of Montana’s department of adminstration and finance at 406-243-4662.

***************

Administrators hope legislators will come to the same conclusion over the next two weeks and before the education subcommittee concludes its hearings Feb. 11.

Because the university system is facing the likelihood of enormous funding cutbacks by legislators, the timing is right for "Montana Invests," said Bill Johnston, a lobbyist for the Montana university system and director of UM’s Alumni Association.

"The economy is a huge part of the discussion in trying to figure out what drives this state," Johnston said. "We are making the point very clearly that we don’t drain the state coffers, that just the opposite – investment in the university system returns itself many times over."

"If another business from out of state said ‘Give me $275 million in tax breaks and I will put $1 billion in the state economy,’ I think the governor and economic development director Dave Gibson would be falling all over themselves," Duringer said.

"We are that business, and they need to understand that," he said

Using data gathered from UM’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research and the university system’s payroll departments, "Montana Invests" reports that more than $480 million is spent in local state economies by faculty, staff and students. It also reports that the university system brings more than $300 million into Montana from out-of-state sources, such as visiting athletic teams, out-of-state students’ living expenses, academic conferences and research money.

More detailed information, and the breakdown of specific expenditures in local economies are laid out on the "Montana Invests" Web site, where information is gathered under seven distinct headings, among them: "Montana University System Impacts and Outcomes," "Expenditures in Host Communities by Faculty, Staff and Students," and "Montana University System Alumni Living in Montana."

The project is a collaboration between all of the state campuses for the past year and was initiated by UM administrators, Duringer said.

Veteran legislator Royal Johnson, R-Billings, a longtime critic of the university system said he’s been very pleased with the information the university system has been handing out all session.

"If you are a university or division of state government and you want government funding, you need to be able to supply information about where that money is going," Johnson said. "I’m feeling good about the university system’s whole presentation so far – it’s something I’ve wanted to see for a long time."

Reporter Betsy Cohen can be reached at 523-5253 or at [email protected].

http://missoulian.com/display/inn_news/news06.txt

******************************

Lawmakers tour MSU

By GAIL SCHONTZLER, Chronicle Staff Writer

A key budget committee chairman predicted Wednesday that before the 2003 Legislature ends, some of the millions of dollars now slated to be cut from the Montana University System will be restored.

"You can bet on it — you can auction off my pipe!" said Rep. Don Hedges, R-Antelope, chairman of the Joint Education Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee.

However, Hedges cautioned, the money may not be restored to all areas of the University System or in the full amount.

He spoke during a tour of the Montana State University campus, given to the committee that votes on state education spending.

Visiting the campus makes it more real, said Hedges, who graduated from MSU in 1958 and went on to work for the Boeing Corp. for 20 years before returning to Montana.

It’s one thing to say if tuition is raised it will bring in so many dollars, Hedges said. "But if it means students from Ryegate and Billings no longer can get an education, or they have to go out of state to pay off loans — it puts a personality on it."

Lawmakers heard about everything from how MSU has cut way back on building maintenance — windows are only washed once every year or two — to how undergraduates are getting to work with research scientists on real-world projects.

In one physics lab, assistant professor Charles Kankelborg and undergraduate Michael Chase explained how, thanks to an $800,000 NASA grant, they’re building a special camera that will be shot up into space to take extreme ultraviolet pictures of the sun.

Lawmakers also visited MSU’s labs doing brain research and improving agricultural products.

Cathy Conover, MSU’s chief lobbyist during the session, said it’s too soon to tell what will happen to the University System’s budget as lawmakers struggle with a $232 million state deficit.

The Republican leadership has started by cutting most state agencies back to fiscal year 2000 levels. That would leave the University System $60 million short of what is needed to keep current programs going.

Republican lawmakers have since restored kindergarten-through-high school funding to the higher level recommended by the governor.

But legislators aren’t hearing the same public outcry about higher education, said Rep. Rosie Buzzas, D-Missoula.

If the Legislature sticks with the 2000 rollback, the Bozeman campus alone stands to lose $7 million a year, Conover said.

"I think overall it’s going to be a real tough session for higher education," Buzzas said.

Asked why Democrats who support education oppose the governor’s proposal to take $93 million from the coal tax trust, Buzzas said the Legislature raided similar trusts during the 1980s and in a couple years all the money was gone.

Republican committee members Rep. Dave Lewis, Appropriations chairman, and Sens. Royal Johnson and John Esp didn’t join the tour, but Conover said they had all visited MSU recently.

The committee will hold its hearing on MSU’s budget Monday.

http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2003/01/29/news/02msutourbzbigs.txt