While budget issues will continue to color the upcoming Legislative session for Kansas University, the school is pushing for the state to allow it to have more independence in making some decisions.

“They all go into the same agenda objective, which is to allow us to make the best use of limited resources at KU,” said Kathy Damron, KU’s director of state governmental relations.

Some of the changes already have saved millions through a pilot program and would save additional money if made permanent, Damron said.

After KU saved more than $9 million on a pilot purchasing program that allowed it to make its own arrangements for everything from office supplies to computers, the school will push to make the program permanent and expand it to other universities.

KU also is trying to make a change that would free the university from waiting on Topeka to approve the sale of surplus property at KU and would allow the school to sell it on its own.

Much of the equipment, such as technical lab equipment, has a limited market, Damron said.

“The people at the University of Kansas in those labs know exactly who would be interested in that property,” she said.

The school also will continue to maintain solid funding for its National Cancer Institute designation quest, Damron said.

That includes protecting the funding for the Kansas Bioscience Authority, which contributed heavily to the cancer effort last year.

“If there were to be a major legislative raid on their budget, that would have severe ramifications for the Cancer Center,” Damron said.

Roy Jensen, the director of the KU Cancer Center, said he appreciated Parkinson’s mentioning the cancer effort in his State of the State speech as an important measure.

“I’m grateful to Gov. Parkinson and the Kansas Legislature for continuing to make this a top priority,” he said.

KU officials will continue to watch the budget closely. Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little praised Parkinson’s message to the Legislature that he wasn’t interested in cutting higher education further.

Still, Damron said the situation is far from resolved.

While many objectives requiring additional funds aren’t being pursued heavily at the moment, KU officials are waiting for the right opportunity.

“You have to articulate the needs and be open and ready if those opportunities present themselves,” Damron said.