Aggies ask legislature for building funds
Students lobbying for USU during the Utah state legislative session this year plan to try a more positive approach than in previous years with the politicians who decide how much money higher education receives and what projects do and do not get a stamp of approval.
“In years past it has been, ‘Don’t cut us. Don’t cut our funds,'” said Ben Wilson, ASUSU executive vice president and head of the Government Relations Council. “From what I’ve seen being on the council in years is that’s not a very effective approach.”
USU will ask the legislature this year for $60 million to build a new biological sciences building and renovate labs in the Biology and Natural Resources building, as well as seek approval to bond money to build a student recreation center, said Neil Abercrombie, director of government relations. The university also has plans for a $20 million instructional building at USU Eastern.
Approval for the recreation center, the Aggie Life and Wellness Center, should not be too hard since the university does not need to ask for funds to build it, Abercrombie said. Obtaining funds for other building projects may be more difficult because the state budget does not have a lot to spare, he said.
“Any building still has an uphill battle,” Abercrombie said.
Public colleges and universities around the state, including USU, send student-staffed lobbyist groups like the GRC to the state capitol every year to lobby for funding and projects. These schools use events like the annual Research On Capitol Hill Day, where student research projects go on display in the state capitol rotunda to persuade legislators their projects are worth funding.
Wilson said the GRC’s approach to legislators will be more positive this year, explaining the great things USU does rather than why it needs more money.
“I feel like if the legislators see the great things we are doing with the funds that are given and we take care of the resources they give us, then in the future they will be more apt to help us out,” Wilson said.
The dozen students on the GRC will travel in groups weekly to Salt Lake City to meet with politicians at the state capitol starting in February.
Wyatt Ellertson, one of the students who will lobby in Salt Lake, said he is collecting stories and examples of USU’s achievements to tell state legislators about. One of his points is the wirelessly-charged electric bus developed by USU’s Wireless Power Transfer Team in cooperation with the Utah Science Technology and Research Initiative. The USU Aggie Bus will receive the Governor’s Technology Award at the upcoming Governor’s Energy Development Summit, he said.
“I think it puts a face to the issue,” Ellertson said. “I think it’s important to have students down there so they can see we are affected by what they do.”
In addition to issues specifically USU related, a bill that may change tuition for out-of-state students at universities is in the works, Abercrombie said.
Sen. Steve Urquhart will sponsor a bill to allow universities to waive out-of-state tuition for students who exceed admissions standards, he said. The second part of the bill will allow the universities to extend legacy wavers to grandchildren of alumni.
Some schools will be affected more than others by this, and they will have a choice on how to set the wavers, Abercrombie said.
State colleges and universities will also ask for a compensation increase for employees of one percent or more, as they did last year, Abercrombie said. The institutions are also asking for mission based funding, which each school can use as their individual mission requires, he said.
The third aim of the collective universities is to receive funding for the goals of Prosperity 2020, a group of education officials and private businesses. One of their main goals is to ensure two-thirds of Utah adults have a post-secondary education by 2020, Abercrombie said.
– la.stewart@aggiemail.usu.edu
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