KBIA Local
(2009-12-09)
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COLUMBIA, MO
(KBIA) -
University of Missouri employees and students filled Monsanto Auditorium Wednesday, to hear about the economic state of the university. Some even had the chance to address the System President with their concerns. KBIA's Maureen McCollum has more.
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The town hall meeting began with UM System President Gary Forsee talking generally about how state budget cuts will affect the university and how to deal with it. No solid plans were announced on how to handle the 5% reduction in state dollars, or $42 million across the system. But, Forsee did say university officials will need to look at managing costs, funding capital projects, and seeking revenue sources. He says for now, furloughs and salary cuts can be avoided.
The President did address his opposition to cap-and-trade legislation. Some people see this as a contradiction, since Forsee has signed the Presidents' Climate Commitment. This is a nationwide pledge to eliminate campus greenhouse gas emissions over time. Forsee says the stand is not a contradiction and he doesn't consider it to be political either.
"My view is this wasn't a policy debate. This wasn't a debate over science, or a debate over facts about where we are in our environment. That's taking place in a lot of very important forums and our university researchers are right in the middle of that. This was an issue about our budget. That's all it was, an issue about our budget."
Forsee says the UM System doesn't have the money right now to make changes to university energy sources, such as the MU Coal Plant.
Eventually, MU faculty, staff, and students took the opportunity to ask Forsee questions in-person and online. Some asked about the stability of the pension plan, which Forsee says is fine for now. One maintenance worker told the President that overtime cuts have created animosity in his work environment. Biological Science professor Candace Galen asked Forsee to once again consider offering benefits to domestic partnerships. She has a partner and two children. Galen says a colleague of hers with a partner and two children gets $5000 more in benefits than she does, because she's in a same-sex relationship.
"Offering domestic partners benefits is really budget neutral. It's from the perspective of the family that it's not budget neutral at all. Domestic partners benefits make a huge difference for those families."
Forsee says he'll discuss the domestic partnership benefits with campuses this year and report back to the Board of Curators. © Copyright 2012, KBIA
