It is now virtually certain that state government is in for massive budget cuts over the next three years. While there may be those who favor radical reductions in the size of state government, no one can deny that these reductions will cost jobs, reduce services and cause pain for those who work for the state and those who depend upon the state for services and benefits.

There also is little doubt that higher education in Kansas will not be exempt from all of this. Given the inevitability of the coming budget cuts to higher education I think that it is crucial that all of those concerned — university administrators, faculty and staff, the Kansas Board of Regents, the governor, the Legislature and every resident of Kansas — should insist that budget decisions be made without politics playing a major role.

For years, conservative members of the Legislature have accused Kansas higher education of waste and inefficiency. For years, the regents universities have argued that there is little waste or inefficiency on their campuses. Both are, in my opinion, correct. I believe that, after 20 years of periodic budget cuts, there is very little left to cut on individual campuses without damaging their educational, research and service missions. But there is a way to preserve the core missions of the regents universities while making substantial budget cuts.

What the Legislature and the regents must do, if they are to fulfill their responsibilities, is to look at the whole complex system of higher education in Kansas — the state universities, community colleges and vocational schools — decide what higher education should be providing to the people of Kansas, and then determine whether costs can be reduced by eliminating duplication and requiring consolidation at the system level. This will not be easy, and it will be politically challenging, but anything less will be a derogation of the regents’ and Legislature’s responsibility to the people of Kansas.

All one needs to do to understand this is to look at the demographics and structure of Kansas higher education. The total population of Kansas is roughly 2.4 million with the majority living east of Salina and Wichita. We have six regents universities, numerous private colleges and universities, and many community colleges and vocational schools.

The regents schools are generally put into three categories: Kansas University and Kansas State University are research universities, Wichita State University is our urban university, and Pittsburg , Emporia, and Fort Hays are considered to be regional universities. If one looks at the geographical distribution of the regents schools, five of the six are relatively close to each other. KU, K-State, Emporia, Pittsburg and Wichita, as well as Washburn, are within a two and one-half hour driving radius.

Among these schools we have a large amount of programmatic duplication at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. And therein lies the crux of the problem.

If the regents and the Legislature follow historical precedent, budget cuts will be imposed relatively uniformly on each campus. All six regents universities will be told to cut approximately the same percentage from their budgets. As a result, all of the regents universities will be weakened substantially.

Would it not make sense to make the hard choices to eliminate duplication among campuses instead? Would it not make sense to decide that rather than cut the budgets of four schools teaching the same subject at four campuses, to evaluate all four schools and simply eliminate or downsize the weakest? Would it not make sense to ask how many duplicate graduate and professional programs Kansas needs and eliminate the weakest and preserve the strongest without cuts? Is it better to have multiple weak programs rather than one or two strong programs?

The problem with eliminating duplication at the system level is political. It requires hard choices. Politicians dislike making hard choices because hard choices lose votes. But hard times require hard choices made objectively. It will require that regents and legislators evaluate every university and the schools and colleges in each. It will require deciding which are the best and which are the worst.

This will be very difficult, but it is crucial. The governor has told agency heads to expect multi-year cuts. Rather than view these budget reductions as a disaster, the Legislature and the regents should view them as an opportunity, an opportunity to bring rationality and efficiency to a system that is neither rational nor efficient.

The time has come when the regents and the Legislature must do the right thing rather than what is politically advantageous. In a crisis we look to our leaders to show courage and do what must be done. It’s not easy but it’s the only way that we can hope for a better future. The future of Kansas depends on higher education. It is the key to economic productivity and prosperity. Let us hope that our leaders will do what is necessary.