Lamar Presidents Hope to Keep State Funding Intact

By Beth Gallaspy, The Beaumont Enterprise, Texas

Jan. 16–Southeast Texas’ four college campuses continue to experience an enrollment drop that accompanied Hurricane Rita, and presidents of the campuses are hoping this legislative session does not bring a funding drop as well.

Lamar University President James Simmons said he does not want the Legislature to base funding for the next two years on hurricane-suppressed enrollment this year.

“One of our top priorities is to seek special funding to help us through the hurricane-related student enrollment loss,” Simmons said. “We know in the next two to three years, we’ll regain students.”

When classes began Friday, Lamar had 8,726 students enrolled, down 133 students from spring 2006.

Simmons’ colleagues at the Lamar campuses in Orange and Port Arthur and at Lamar Institute of Technology voiced similar concerns.

Lamar State College-Orange President Michael Shahan said he and the other presidents have shared their needs with Southeast Texas senators and representatives.

“They’ve been very helpful in the last special session helping us get some money to deal with hurricane damage,” Shahan said. “We’ve gotten past that hurdle. Now we just have to deal with the appropriations hurdle.”

Lamar Institute of Technology President Paul Szuch would prefer that the Legislature use higher pre-hurricane enrollment figures to decide how much money to give the two-year college for the next two years. If that isn’t possible, he is asking that the state use the same enrollment used to figure appropriations in 2005.

Szuch and Lamar State College-Port Arthur President Sam Monroe also are asking the state to restore funding lost to cutbacks across the state four years ago.

“Since that time, some of the funds have been restored, but we’re still not where we were,” Monroe said. He also said he hopes to see improvements in the formula the state uses to fund state colleges and universities.

Such improvements are a priority for Sen. Kyle Janek, R-Houston, who represents south Jefferson County. Janek said in an interview before the session started that he wants to put more emphasis on higher education as the Legislature develops a budget for the next two years and come up with a funding formula to do more for all four Lamar campuses.

“The budget outlook is a little better for them, and I think the mood is there to do a little bit more for our colleges and universities,” Janek said in the November interview.

Monroe and Shahan both said they hope the Legislature will provide a pay raise for the college’s employees. Employees saw a 2 percent cost-of-living raise this year with nothing the year before, Monroe said.

Money to pay for building projects at some campuses also will be an issue.

Monroe is watching for authorization to issue tuition revenue bonds to pay for a $1.9 million project at the Port Arthur school. Simmons also is relying on tuition revenue bonds for continued remodeling and renovations at the Beaumont campus.

The Lamar University wish list includes a new addition for the engineering building and extensive renovations to update and upgrade the music and biology buildings, said Mike Ferguson, vice president of finance and operations.

“Our costs have grown faster than the state’s been able to fund us,” Simmons said. “In this session, the Legislature has the opportunity to move all our universities forward and fund them at an appropriate level.”

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