Daniel Fowler, The Examiner
2007-09-07 07:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

College Park -

The talk wasn’t pretty Thursday at a meeting of the University System of Maryland’s board of regents: tuition hikes, salary freeze and a reduction in programs.

They were all part of a discussion of three scenarios for the system’s next fiscal year budget, the worst of which was an $80 million cut in state funding.

Joseph F. Vivona’s presentation of a scenario for the reduced budget included talk of a 10 percent increase in tuition across the board. Vivona is the system’s chief operating officer.

He said the state has asked the system to present proposals to meet three scenarios: a reduced budget, a current services budget and an enhanced budget.

His discussion of a current services budget, which essentially would keep the system at a status quo, included a 4 percent tuition increase.

At this point, Board Chair Clifford M. Kendall said, “We are just talking, and we are not making any decisions.”

For the current fiscal year, Vivona said, the system received about $1 billion from the state and about $1 billion in tuition.

The state, however, is facing a budget deficit as high as $1.5 billion for next fiscal year.

“We are one of the largest discretionary items in the budget, and that leaves us concerned about what might happen,” Kendall said.

The board intends to submit its proposals for addressing the three scenarios to the state by Oct. 5.

Gov. Martin O’Malley froze tuition in the system for the current fiscal year. Kendall said the board should be fighting to not lose the power to control its schools’ tuition.

Regent David H. Nevins suggested letting people know that “we are for modest tuition increases ... as opposed to falling victim to the policies of the day.”

dfowler@dcexaminer.com