TCNJ News
President Gitenstein Statement on Proposed State Budget for FY 2011
Yesterday, March 16, 2010, Governor Chris Christie proposed a state budget for Fiscal Year 2011, which will begin on July 1, 2010. His plan calls for dramatic reductions in state spending on municipal aid, school aid, and higher education aid, among other measures designed to reconcile a staggering budget shortfall. Though higher education was not a topic of discussion during the governor’s televised address, his proposal will have significant ramifications for the present and future of higher education in New Jersey. More detailed information can be found in the Budget in Brief document (http://www.state.nj.us/treasury/omb/publications/11bib/BIB.pdf, particularly note pages 34, 44-45, 55, and 73-74), but the bottom line is that this proposal presents colleges and universities with both an imposing fiscal dilemma and relief from some unfunded mandates and onerous restrictions that create impediments to efficiency. It is absolutely essential that we advocate for some moderation of the cuts to higher education funding. It is equally important that we support the governor’s proposals for greater institutional autonomy, which will enable colleges and universities to better manage the fiscal challenge we now face.
The implications of the governor’s plan for The College of New Jersey are extraordinary. Under Governor Christie’s proposal, TCNJ would see its base appropriation drop $5.2 million from $34.5 million to $29.3 million. The $5.2 million represents the proposed cut to TCNJ’s appropriation and does not include required increases to expenditures for next year. This tremendous challenge is exacerbated by the state’s recent history with regard to funding higher education. While many recipients of state support are adversely affected in Governor Christie’s proposal, New Jersey’s institutions of higher education have experienced funding reductions in eight of the last 11 years. As a result, if this proposal is enacted, TCNJ would receive far less from the state, in real dollars, than it did more than a decade ago.
The Adaptive Technology Center, which is housed at TCNJ and provides information, training, and a technology lending program to New Jersey college students with disabilities, would also lose its funding under Governor Christie's budget proposal. If this is not altered, the Adaptive Technology Center and six regional centers will be eliminated. In the time since the program was established by state statute in 1987 [NJ Statute 18A:72:H-1], the regional centers have assisted tens of thousands of students.
Though the governor’s budget plan would significantly reduce state support received by TCNJ, it also calls for the elimination of certain unfunded mandates and impediments to efficiency. The proposal further suggests actions designed to enable institutions of higher education to operate more proficiently and purposefully. We welcome this greater flexibility and look forward to further clarification on such opportunities.
As we have in past years, TCNJ will advocate for reinstatement of resources for higher education. Advocacy, however, will be particularly challenging this year because higher education is only one of many state-supported programs targeted for dramatic funding reductions. In our efforts, we will continue to emphasize that the path to economic recovery will require a robust higher education community. We will also express that, while higher education is unavoidably part of the solution to the budget shortfall, we cannot be the full partner in the state’s economic recovery without adequate financial support. We will additionally deliver a strong message in support of the governor’s proposed relief from unfunded mandates and restrictions that hamper efficiency and productivity.
TCNJ will, of course, also have to plan for addressing the dramatic cut in resources even as we advocate for modification of the cut. Our strategy for addressing the funding challenge will follow the principles that were developed by the Council on Planning and Priorities (CPP) and endorsed by TCNJ’s Board of Trustees. As modified by CPP in 2008, these principles are to preserve the health, safety, and security of our students, faculty, staff, and visitors; to preserve the integrity and excellence of our core educational programs and services as defined by the college mission; and to preserve the institutional integrity of the college, including our obligations to staff, faculty, and students. In implementing these principles, decisions will also be guided by the College’s strategic initiatives, in particular, the need to preserve and enhance TCNJ’s long-term financial wellbeing. As I shared with the community on March 2, 2010, on the heels of this year’s mid-year cut, the processes that we have used in the past eight years will not be adequate for addressing the challenges that are before us. We have already begun a thoughtful review of programs across the campus, following procedures for academic and non-academic program closure.
It will take some time to determine the full impact of Governor Christie’s proposed budget on TCNJ. I will share more information with the College community in the near future and plan to address the campus in the coming weeks. I will begin meetings with leadership from the Faculty and Staff Senates, the Student Government Association, and TCNJ’s labor unions next week. Afterwards, I will schedule a campus update similar to the one held March 2, 2010.
I recognize that New Jersey is in fiscal disrepair and that higher education is one of many sectors that will suffer as a result of the actions necessary to resolve the state’s budget problems. I remain, however, convinced of the vital role higher education plays in determining the quality of New Jersey’s future. The state’s colleges and universities are both economic engines and engines of opportunity, and while the state’s recent history of disinvestment makes it more challenging, The College of New Jersey will do everything possible to continue delivering upon its mission.
