Faculty supports stimulus aspects

UT Faculty Senate unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday supporting higher education-related aspects of the federal stimulus plan and will urge faculty to reach out to state representatives to stress the importance of higher education.

Faculty senator Paul Lehman, a professor of medical microbiology and immunology, proposed the resolution in response to a letter sent by the American Association of University Professors General Secretary Gary Rhoades on Feb. 10 to several hundred thousand faculty members and administrators across the country.

In the letter, Rhoades stated AAUP's concerns, based on the Senate's version of the stimulus package, are the elimination of "higher education facilities modernization monies" and the reduction of "stabilization fund" to states.

"It's to encourage faculty to realize that we can actually have a voice in encouraging Congress to recognize that we are an investment, we're not just a cost," Rhoades said.

The House and Senate agreed on a package of $789 billion yesterday. The initially proposed $79 billion state stabilization fund and the $16 billion school modernization projects — totaling $95 billion — decreased to a total of $54 billion.

UT's Chief of Staff and Vice President for Government Relations Bill McMillen said while the language of the stimulus package in regards to higher education "is a pretty done deal" at this point, he applauds faculty members' interest on this issue.

"I think that's a great goal and a great thing for faculty and staff members to do, and as Dr. [Lloyd] Jacobs said at the [Faculty] Senate [meeting] yesterday, the governor has been very generous and the state legislature ... have been very generous to the higher education," he said.

Rhoades addressed the timing and the impact of his letter, considering reports that the legislation for the economic stimulus plan may be completed by the end of this week.

"I don't think one letter is necessarily going to change people's minds, but it lays a foundation for saying, ‘So the next time that we're talking about higher education and funding, think about the fact that we're an investment,'" Rhoades said. "We need to invest in the students, but we also need to invest in people who work in the universities who provide classes and various services to students."

He stressed the importance of thinking further ahead.

"We need a longer-term investment," Rhoades said. "And that message, I think, is at least as important at the state level as it is at the federal level, because the states are not really investing; they are de-investing in education at precisely the time when they should be doing just the opposite."

Executive Secretary of the Faculty Senate and professor in counselor education and school of psychology Nick Piazza said the Executive Committee had written the letter in support of the stimulus plan and was in the process of sending it out as of press time.

"As part of the motion ... [we are formulating] a sample letter to be distributed to faculty or other people within the university who would like to write a letter or send an e-mail in support of the stimulus plan," he said.

Rhoades explained the reasoning behind his letter to faculty members.

"I think it's important for faculty members to be part of the constituencies communicating to representatives and senators the importance of investing in education for the recovery of this country," he said.

"I think the states and the federal government need to start rethinking the way they conceive of higher education," Rhoades said. "They tend to see it as a cost. They don't tend to understand how valuable of an investment it is and how central an investment it is in our country's future."

Rhoades criticized individuals who expect to see immediate change from the stimulus package.

"The reality is, it's going to take a long time," Rhoades said. "It's going to take months, years for the economy to really recover, and so this first package is important."

"I think one of the criticisms over the years is that not enough people have advocated for higher education, and so having more people advocate for it and talk about the good things that they're doing and the classes they're teaching and the research they're doing and so on is terrific," McMillen said.

McMillen said he is uncertain of the effect the finalized stimulus package will have on Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland's recently proposed state budget.  Strickland's budget included a projected amount from the federal government, he said.

"Now the question is, that no one can answer yet, is, will the state get as much money as the governor and the staff predicted? And no one knows," he said. "We won't know until the figures come in."

"We have this political opportunity with a president who talks about change, and we're going to think differently, and we're going to do things differently," Rhoades said. "So, now is the time to try it out."