The appropriations bill was introduced today with much discussion on the floor of the Senate regarding the higher education portion of the bill.

As reported in The Denver Post, the bill was sent back to the Joint  Budget Committee for further work. As of 4 p.m., a second reading was planned for this evening.

Also today, HB 1295 authorizing Metro State to offer master's degrees passed on second reading. There will be a third reading before it goes to the governor for his signature.

Jordan speaks with faculty
Yesterday, President Stephen Jordan spoke before a full house of faculty members at the 4 p.m. Faculty Senate meeting in TIV 320.

While making it clear that the situation is very much in flux, Jordan also went into some detail about the potential impact a $32.4 million reduction could have on Metro State.

“Most likely, we would be looking at some combination of reductions in faculty and staff size, student size and a tuition increase,” Jordan said. The cut in the number of students the College could enroll could be as low as 700 or as high as 7,000, he added.

Whatever the outcome, Jordan said “We will survive this. We may be smaller...we will have to do business differently, but we’ll survive.”

Events planned
WTF!?! Where’s the funding?, a panel discussion on the impact of the proposed total $450 million in cuts to higher education will be held Monday, April 13, at 1 p.m. in TIV 320 B and C.

The panelists from Metro State will be Political Science Assistant Professor Lance Denning, Economics Assistant Professor Alexander Padilla and SGA President Andrew Bateman. Other panelists will include Robert Reichardt, director of the Center for Educational Policy Analysis at UCD as well as CCD professors to be announced. Jesse Daniels from Metro State Student Media will moderate.

Among the topics that will be discussed are:

• How did we get to this point as a state – what policies led
   to this crisis?
• Are there ways to get out of this mess?
• What are the economic impacts of these cuts?
• Are there workforce development impacts?
• What are the impacts to Metro State and CCD students?

A question-and-answer session will follow.

The event is sponsored by Metro State Student Activities and CCD Student Life.

A statewide Day of Education on April 21 is being planned by Metro State student government leaders and others. Watch @Metro for details as they are announced.

For more information or to submit questions or comments about the budget crisis, go to www.mscd.edu/president/higheredfunding.