No more Lying to the Higher Education Commission

Last Friday, Friday the thirteenth, the Indiana Commission of Higher Education met in West Lafayette to review the 2007-08 and 2008-09 budget submissions for the various Indiana public university campuses. This is one of the legal steps in preparation for the budget request to the Legislature, which eventually provides the actual tax money to the campuses.

I addressed the commission. Unlike the boards of trustees of Purdue and Indiana universities, they allow Hoosier taxpayers to address them. I went as a taxpaying citizen of Northwest Indiana. NWI has more than 850,000 people and makes up about 14 percent of the state's population.

My question was, are we getting our fair share in the benefits allocated for higher education in the state? I was alone. There was no support from any local or state elected officials. No Mayor McDermott of Hammond, no Mayor Clay of Gary, and no Senator Mrvan, they were no shows for the most important job they had to do.  Just me.

I told the commission I was there to speak for the people of NWI who were not being represented and do not have a voice. I said I didn't have fancy PowerPoint presentations or the slick handouts university presidents gave commission members. I told them I brought facts and the interests of NWI.

According to the Department of Education, Indiana's higher education funding ranks first for its inequitable distribution across the various campuses. This dire statistic has been known for two years, but nothing has been done by the commission or our local legislators.

I told the commission three changes that need to occur. One, funding needs to be greatly equalized between the center of the state and the northern part, in particular NWI. The president of Indiana State University earlier told the commission that each incoming freshman gets a free laptop computer. A great idea, I said, but we in NWI cannot even keep our campus libraries open past 5 p.m. because of lack of funding.

Two, institutional and structural racism must end -- now. Most Hoosier African-Americans and Hispanics attend campuses in NWI. But they receive less than half the public funds of their fellow white Hoosiers in the center and southern parts of the state. Although this has been historical reality, it must end, because it is illegal.

Three, the mission of NWI's largest campuses -- Purdue University Calumet and Indiana University Northwest -- needs to be changed from the current low-level status to an equal mission with Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. IUPUI has the mission of a "metropolitan university," with greater quality, status and funds than the lower status of regional campus given to PUC and IUN. Why is this the case?

The ISU president's presentation included a map of Indiana that inadvertently quickly showed the inequality. The northern third of the state had nothing. Everything was in the state's center and south. I could feel the university presidents' daggers aimed at my back as I presented the truth. Sadly, it is the presidents of the various Indiana universities who have let down the state and undermined its economic development and continued the brain drain to promote their own interests.

This is not new. In the 1970s, the Legislature created independent trustees for NWI campuses. This has never been implemented, even though the law clearly states that no budget be presented to the commission for PUC, IUN and Purdue North Central without the approval of these trustees.

In this process, NWI has been severely damaged.

Comments

[nwi]

I have only come across this issue on your website. I certainly agree with the importance of correcting this inequity, as you describe it. Where do the leaders of IUN, PUC and PNC stand on this? Is there somewhere I can go to find out their positions? How about your fellow professors? I would assume that the tenured professors have a lot to say about this issue. How can they not speak out? Nothing about the non-involvement of local politicians surprises me; the typical Lake County pol has a lot to lose from an educated constituency. The local public universities are a logical area to focus resources in order to provide a skilled workforce that could attract new businesses to the region. No amount of industrial or retail development can match the wealth creation of professional service businesses, but the only way to attract them is through a well-educated labor pool and a commitment to keep the labor pool stocked.

Reply: "I don't know of any particular place you can find their position; because I don't think they are going to give one. Remember that the Chancellors of all three campuses were hired and work for the main campus in West Lafayetee and Bloomington. They are not even allowed to address the State Legislature or the Commission. For example, Purdue for the next two years is asking for 3% cost of living increase for West Lafayette; but only 2.8% for PUC and PNC. There is no good reason especially when the cost of living is actually higher here.

But the reality is that no one is protesting. The faculty generally feel powerless and are generally quite demoralized. Nonetheless, I don't know how much many of them want to get into a fight between them and the people who butter their bread.

So the only real hope is the politicians here or the citizens would care enough to do something about it. One of the ways they have kept this from becoming a problem is by not publicizing it. Everyone I have talked to is surprised by the difference because no one ever mentioned it. But the numbers are available easily on the West Lafayette and/or the Commission of Higher ed site."