Janet Murguia is enlisting faculty and staff to help lobby state legislators on behalf of Kansas University.

Murguia, KU’s executive vice chancellor for university relations, met Tuesday with the Senate Executive Committee (SenEx) to brainstorm ideas for how KU could take its message to Topeka. SenEx includes representation from faculty, staff and students.

“I feel there’s going to be more power more strength in numbers this time,” she said.

Murguia said the state’s higher education system was facing a “possibly ominous” situation between cuts made this fiscal year and a shrinking budget for next year. She said the strategy might be to “minimize losses” during the next session instead of asking for more money.

“Given the state of the deficit and the revenues coming in, we’re in for making the best of a bad situation,” Murguia said.

She urged the group to contact their legislators individually. But she also suggested the group should organize to send students, faculty and staff to Topeka early in the session to explain the value of KU.

Murguia said the state’s colleges and universities planned to find new ways to lobby together this session. For instance, alumni associations including the KU Alumni Association’s Jayhawks for Higher Education may join for letter-writing campaigns or rallies.

Thelma Simons, special project manager for academic computing services and president of the Unclassified Professional Staff Assn., said members of her group already had begun contacting staff at other universities to talk about working together in Topeka.

“We are very willing to go,” she said. “We have people with experience testifying before committees. We want to be a face over there instead of just a number on a budget line.”

Larry Draper, a professor of molecular biosciences and SenEx chairman, said he appreciated having KU administrators suggest methods for getting the message out to those who hold the pursestrings.

“We’re very unclear,” he said. “What should the faculty do to advocate? We’ve got mixed signals in the past. Some say to contact our legislative representatives; some say not to keep out of it.”