Coordinating Board for Higher Education Meeting Minutes 11-00

Notes from the Conference Call
November 9, 2000

The following board members participated in the conference call:

Marie Carmichael, Vice Chair
John Bass, Secretary
Mary Findley
Dudley Grove
Ray Henry
Sandra Kauffman

Commissioner Stroup and Dr. Long also participated.

The purpose of the call was a review of the FY 2002 public four-year institutions base budget request.

The board appreciated receiving the paper prepared by the staff regarding the chronology of base budget adjustments for four-year institutions completing mission review and financial review.

It was the consensus of the board that it supports the staff's original recommendation for the following reasons.

The board concluded that the recommendation is fair and consistent with board policy and COPHE discussions on this issue. The recommendation for an adjustment to Southwest Missouri State University's base budget is supported by its current position below the mean of per FTE funding among the more than 200 public comprehensive masters degree granting institutions throughout the nation and its position as Missouri's lowest funded masters granting institution. The adjustment to the per FTE funding level of the next lowest funded masters granting institution is reasonable and consistent with mission difference between baccalaureate and masters degree granting institutions.

Missouri Western State College and Missouri Southern State College are funded per FTE above the mean of the more than 100 public baccalaureate institutions nationwide and a correction to their base budgets is not indicated as part of this process. This does not indicate that the board considers these institutions over-funded and does not adversely affect their participation in any future funding initiatives approved.

The board expressed its commitment to ongoing review of the current system of funding public higher education. However, the board recognizes that state support represents about 60 percent of four-year institutions' budgets and that other sources of financial support are influenced by institutional choices including tuition discounting and admissions practices that do not achieve institutions' agreed upon level of selectivity.