Topeka — Kansas University's student body president chastised administrators Wednesday for leaving students out of discussions on raising tuition.
Justin Mills, flanked by about 20 KU students, told the Kansas Board of Regents that meetings about tuition conducted in December were "presentations, not dialogues.
"It's my opinion KU has done an embarrassingly poor job of informing students about the decisions that affect the university as a whole," Mills said.
Mills' comments came during KU's presentation of principles that would guide the university's five-year plan for a tuition increase. Each regents university made a half-hour presentation Wednesday.
KU administrators' goal is to use state funding and tuition the next five years to match the average funding level of five "peer" universities.
That would require an additional $50 million yearly. Tuition for Kansas residents could rise by as much as $2,880 during the next five years,but would be less if state funding increased. Current in-state tuition for an average student is $2,884 per year.
Mills said he thought students should have been involved before the 20 December meetings, at which Provost David Shulenburger outlined KU's funding situation and possible options to increase its budget. Mills also said some of the plans for more money which include funding for supplies and equipment and operating expenses seemed "fuzzy."
Student leaders from other state universities said Wednesday that they were pleased with their involvement in tuition discussions. They said students at Kansas State and Wichita State were involved as early as September, a month before the regents formally asked schools to consider tuition plans.
KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway said he planned to include students in meetings between now and April, when the universities make their final tuition proposals to the Board of Regents.
"Whatever mistakes we may have made in the past ... we'll move on from here and make sure the dialogue will be extended," Hemenway said.
KU's tuition presentation was similar to Kansas State's. KSU administrators said they wanted to be at the median funding levels of the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges within five years, which would require an additional $83.5 million yearly.
The presentations by the three "regional universities" Emporia State, Fort Hays State and Pittsburg State included a plan to allow residents of Nebraska, Colorado, Missouri and Oklahoma to pay 150 percent the tuition level of resident students to attract more students. Now, at Fort Hays State, all out-of-state students pay three times the resident rate.
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