PHOENIX - Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano will request a significant funding increase in her 2005 budget recommendation in order to help state universities retain faculty and deal with enrollment growth, she said in her State of the State address Monday.
"I am ready to work in partnership with Arizona's universities and community colleges to enhance access to higher education, intensify university research efforts and increase graduation rates," Napolitano said.
While Napolitano said she wouldn't offer specifics on how much money she'll ask the Legislature to allocate to the university until her budget proposal is released tomorrow, state officials say it will be less than the additional $129 million for which the universities have asked.
"(The budget proposal) will include a sizeable portion, but not the entire request is going to be met," said George Cunningham, the governor's budget and finance deputy chief of staff.
The UA has asked the governor for nearly $64 million more than the $316.6 million the Legislature allocated for the UA for this fiscal year.
UA officials responded enthusiastically to the governor's speech in which she touted the Legislature's decision to give $440 million to the three state schools to build new research facilities last year as proof that she is committed to improving higher education in Arizona.
"I am very encouraged. I thought she came out and said she is basically against any funding cuts," said Greg Fahey, UA associate vice president for government relations.
Last year, the governor negotiated with the Legislature to prevent an additional funding cut for the universities, which would have been added to the more than $40 million in legislative budget cuts the UA sustained from 2000 to 2002.
Fahey said that if Napolitano manages to increase funding for the universities, the money would help retain faculty, renovate buildings, boost retirement and healthcare packages for university employees ,and aid in efforts to deal with enrollment growth.
"It's been three years since we got money for facilities maintenance," Fahey said.
Although enrollment increases at the UA aren't as big of a concern as at ASU, where officials have suggested capping enrollment, the UA has asked for $10 million to keep up with its swelling enrollment, Fahey said. Last year, the UA received no additional funding for enrollment growth.
Cunningham said the governor's budget would address one of the UA's major concerns in fighting "brain drain," the loss of faculty to better-paying jobs at universities with better facilities.
"We were delighted to learn that she's going to do her best to protect the universities," Provost George Davis said. "What these dollars could do is put us in a more pre-emptive, proactive mode instead of a reactive mode."
If the UA gets the $15.5 million it has requested to increase faculty salaries, it would be in a much better position to compete with other academic institutions across the country, Davis said.
Davis said he hopes that a strengthened economy and increases in state tax revenues will make the Legislature willing to allocate the funds to the universities.
Legislators say, however, that they still face a $400-$600 million budget that will limit the requests they will be able to meet this session.
Republican Speaker of the House Jake Flake said legislators will "do all we can do" to meet the needs of the state's universities, but stressed that fiscal constraints may trim down the amount of money the universities will receive.
"We'll do our best, but we can only do what we've got the money for," Flake said.