This Washington
UW Students Want to Increase Number of Students on Board of Regents, but Proposal Lacks Support in Legislature
THIS PIECE HAS BEEN UPDATED WITH COMMENTS FROM REP. REUVEN CARLYLE (D-36, QUEEN ANNE).
In response to the legislature's proposal to grant tuition setting authority to universities, the Associated Students of the University of Washington (ASUW) have come up with a proposal of their own. Their idea is simple: raise the number of the students on the UW board of regents—the group that would be setting tuition— up from one to three, bringing the total number of regents up from ten to twelve.
The tuition legislation sponsored by Rep. Reuven Carlyle (D-36, Queen Anne) would grant temporary local control to higher education institutions through 2016. The higher education budget for the next biennium will likely take a hit of $482 million, as proposed in the house budget—that translates to a 30 percent cut to the University of Washington alone. Those budget cuts will mostly be offset by tuition increases from 13 to 16 percent.
Carlyle's legislation would require that each tuition increase to be offset by financial aid to lower and middle-income enrollees. The offset has three components, including a $100 million increase in the state need grant during the next biennium (totaling $600 million), an expansion of eligibility for financial aid to 125 percent of median income (or $97,500), and a requirement that universities raise the floor in the amount of aid they give out with each tuition increase.
In a press release sent out this morning, ASUW Director of Government Relations Quinn Majeski said "students have always been opposed to local control of tuition because we believe the legislature is more directly accountable to students as constituents."
And Majeski tells PubliCola that if the legislature goes forward with the local control proposal, then "most of the decisions are going to be made at the local level, and we are trying to create a scenario that acknowledges that students are paying sixty percent of the cost of their education" and are real stakeholders in the institution.
[pullquote]State Rep. Carlyle lamented, however, that there was "not sufficient support" in the legislature to move forward with the ASUW proposal, but noted that it would be a high priority between legislative sessions. [/pullquote]
That point was echoed by Chris Jordan, ASUW Director of Public Relations who said the group thought the proposal "makes a heck of a lot of sense," arguing that "if the legislature is going to pass off control then we [students] should have more of a say."
Majeski told PubliCola that even though the idea had only surfaced earlier this week, the ASUW has already talked with the Governor's office, who is still looking at the idea, and Carlyle, who told Majeski he liked the idea so far.
Carlyle confirmed this afternoon that he supported the students' proposal, saying that it was his "personal priority to strengthen the role of students on campuses across the state." He added that "students have worked tirelessly to try and find a silver lining in the budget cuts" this session. Carlyle lamented, however, that there was "not sufficient support" in the legislature to move forward with the ASUW proposal, but noted that it would be a high priority between legislative sessions.
Carlyle said that the house, senate, and the governor's office were in final negotiations over certain language in the original bill and expected the house to move on it early next week.
Currently, the ten member Board of Regents at the UW includes Costco founder Jeffrey Botman, c0-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation William H. Gates, senior director of E-Government Programs at Microsoft Joanne Harrell, and REI CEO Sally Jewell.
We have a call in to the UW Board of Regents to see where some of the members may stand on the ASUW proposal.
In response to the legislature's proposal to grant tuition setting authority to universities, the Associated Students of the University of Washington (ASUW) have come up with a proposal of their own. Their idea is simple: raise the number of the students on the UW board of regents—the group that would be setting tuition— up from one to three, bringing the total number of regents up from ten to twelve.
The tuition legislation sponsored by Rep. Reuven Carlyle (D-36, Queen Anne) would grant temporary local control to higher education institutions through 2016. The higher education budget for the next biennium will likely take a hit of $482 million, as proposed in the house budget—that translates to a 30 percent cut to the University of Washington alone. Those budget cuts will mostly be offset by tuition increases from 13 to 16 percent.
Carlyle's legislation would require that each tuition increase to be offset by financial aid to lower and middle-income enrollees. The offset has three components, including a $100 million increase in the state need grant during the next biennium (totaling $600 million), an expansion of eligibility for financial aid to 125 percent of median income (or $97,500), and a requirement that universities raise the floor in the amount of aid they give out with each tuition increase.
In a press release sent out this morning, ASUW Director of Government Relations Quinn Majeski said "students have always been opposed to local control of tuition because we believe the legislature is more directly accountable to students as constituents."
And Majeski tells PubliCola that if the legislature goes forward with the local control proposal, then "most of the decisions are going to be made at the local level, and we are trying to create a scenario that acknowledges that students are paying sixty percent of the cost of their education" and are real stakeholders in the institution.
[pullquote]State Rep. Carlyle lamented, however, that there was "not sufficient support" in the legislature to move forward with the ASUW proposal, but noted that it would be a high priority between legislative sessions. [/pullquote]
That point was echoed by Chris Jordan, ASUW Director of Public Relations who said the group thought the proposal "makes a heck of a lot of sense," arguing that "if the legislature is going to pass off control then we [students] should have more of a say."
Majeski told PubliCola that even though the idea had only surfaced earlier this week, the ASUW has already talked with the Governor's office, who is still looking at the idea, and Carlyle, who told Majeski he liked the idea so far.
Carlyle confirmed this afternoon that he supported the students' proposal, saying that it was his "personal priority to strengthen the role of students on campuses across the state." He added that "students have worked tirelessly to try and find a silver lining in the budget cuts" this session. Carlyle lamented, however, that there was "not sufficient support" in the legislature to move forward with the ASUW proposal, but noted that it would be a high priority between legislative sessions.
Carlyle said that the house, senate, and the governor's office were in final negotiations over certain language in the original bill and expected the house to move on it early next week.
Currently, the ten member Board of Regents at the UW includes Costco founder Jeffrey Botman, c0-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation William H. Gates, senior director of E-Government Programs at Microsoft Joanne Harrell, and REI CEO Sally Jewell.
We have a call in to the UW Board of Regents to see where some of the members may stand on the ASUW proposal.
