President’s budget message – April 28, 2009

Town Hall Meeting postponed

Dear members of the university community:

I was in Tallahassee last Thursday to participate in a press conference at the Capitol to highlight concerns over the Florida House’s proposed budget for higher education. Nine of my counterparts within the State University System (SUS) and I joined Sheila McDevitt, chair of the Board of Governors, and students in communicating the impact of these proposed devastating cuts. While the Senate proposal would cut $250 million out of basic state support that is provided annually to the universities, the House proposal would take twice as much, $500 million.

This is a disinvestment program in universities that already are poorly funded in comparison with public universities in most other states. Cuts along the line of those proposed in the House budget have the potential to seriously damage the entire state university system. They are equivalent to eliminating state support for the University of Florida or as many as five of the smaller state universities. They will force fundamental restructuring of the universities, including the closure of some colleges, programs and campuses.

What does this mean to FIU?

The proposed House budget cuts represent a $44 million cut to FIU, or 24 percent, on top of a 4 percent cut in January 2009 and a 6 percent cut at the start of 2008-09.

The ripple effect of such budget cuts would be felt in every community in our state. It puts at risk our community’s access to quality, affordable higher education and our state’s ability to compete in the global economy. It deals a devastating blow to our efforts to train engineers, scientists, teachers, nurses and business leaders. It jeopardizes our ability to develop and diversify our economy because companies will not locate where they can’t find talent to hire.

On the other hand, strong universities attract companies to the area and create products and companies through the research enterprise and the intrinsic creativity spurred by institutions of higher learning. Think: Google, Gatorade, Hewlett-Packard, Analog Devices.

I am grateful for the support FIU has received from the Miami-Dade delegation and our many friends throughout the state who understand what is at stake. Fortunately, the support seems to be there for the funding our College of Medicine needs to get started. I believe our community leaders understand that universities are critical to our economic recovery. I know our community understands because every year we have more and more students applying for the limited seats in our freshman class.

The Legislature faces a daunting task in terms of balancing the budget this year. Legislators must find new, reliable sources of revenues and resist the temptation to use temporary federal stimulus funds as the answer to our problems. While we appreciate these funds and will make good use of them, permanent solutions cannot be realized using temporary money.

In light of the uncertainty that still surrounds the budget issue, we have decided to postpone the Town Hall meeting originally schedule for next Monday. Because there has been no resolution regarding the magnitude of the cuts, we are not in a position to discuss our own cuts, much less proposed program closures. We are extending our timeline: The Faculty Senate has agreed to a delay in submission of unit restructuring and program closure documents to them until May 4.

A bright spot amidst the gloom

The bright spot as of today is that House leaders are no longer considering a salary cut for university employees. That is good news.

Less than one week remains for supporters of FIU to communicate with their legislators, during their own personal time and using their own personal resources, about the importance of funding education. The Governmental Relations website will continue to post updates on the session and provide tools for members of the university community to share their views with our legislators.

Moving forward

This past weekend our Board of Trustees appointed Dr. Mark Rosenberg the fifth president of Florida International University.

I am delighted to entrust Dr. Rosenberg with guiding the future of FIU. I knew that Dr. Rosenberg is talented, driven and, of course, we all know of his passion and love for FIU. After the rigorous search process of the last few weeks, we can now be confident that our new president-designate will take our university to the next level of greatness.

Our diverse pool of candidates had a wide range of experiences and talent and yet both Dr. Rosenberg and Executive Vice President and Provost Ronald Berkman rose to the top, along with University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Chancellor Carlos Santiago, an established university leader.

Prior to the final Board decision, Dr. Berkman decided to accept an offer to lead Cleveland State University as its next president. I am grateful for his collaboration and dedication to the advancement of FIU during his 12 years here. I know he will do a phenomenal job in Cleveland.

We have good reason to be proud of the quality of talent that FIU has been privileged to attract: When Dr. Rosenberg assumes the presidency of FIU later this summer, we will be able to say that the three finalists for FIU’s presidency are all university leaders in their own right.

I thank all applicants for their interest in our institution and the suggestions and ideas they brought forth during the interview process. The search firm of Greenwood/Asher and Associates also deserves our gratitude for managing a complex and very public process.

I also want to thank the FIU community for the commitment and engagement you brought to this process. The last few weeks have brought us closer as a university community, and I sincerely thank all involved.

Please visit News@FIU to learn more about the events of the last few days.

Dates to remember
I continue to urge you to monitor FIU’s evolving budget situation as the legislative process moves forward.  Upcoming dates that are key to FIU’s budget process include:

• Legislative session ends: May 1
• Town Hall meeting – Postponed until further notice
• FY 2009-10 budget loaded into PeopleSoft: May 8
• Special meeting of Faculty Senate: May 26
• Recommendations due from Faculty Senate: May 26
• Final reduction plans due for all university units: May 29
• Board of Trustees Budget Workshop: June 1
• Board of Trustees meeting: June 12

As always, I thank everyone who is keeping abreast of this budget process. We want you to be informed because we need your participation and input. Please continue to share your thoughts at meetings, informal gathering or by sending me an email message at presmail@fiu.edu

Modesto A. Maidique
President