February 6, 2009 Budget Update

 

WWU Colleagues,

As part of our continuing commitment to keep you fully informed about state budget matters, I am writing to advise you of a letter that I sent today to Senator Derek Kilmer, Chair, Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee, and Senator Rodney Tom, Operating Budget Vice Chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

This letter to Senators Kilmer and Tom is in response to a directive that I and other public university presidents received in January asking us to provide their committees with detailed information on "possible institutional consequences of pending budget alternatives." 

As I mentioned to you in my January 23 budget update, we were asked to provide two budget reduction scenarios to the legislative committees – the first defined by the Governor's budget proposal and the second a proposal that would almost double the size of the cuts we would need to make relative to what the Governor had proposed.

Our submission today conveys overall impacts upon students, faculty, staff and programs, if these reductions currently under discussion in Olympia are implemented.  We have necessarily painted an ugly picture because we must effectively persuade the State of the damage that will result from the unacceptable levels of these reductions. 

I have posted my letter to Senators Kilmer and Tom at Letter to the Senators.

Thank you, again, for your patience during this long budget process.

Bruce