Lawmakers question funding for ISU experiment station

DES MOINES - As lawmakers this week continue to debate how to fund Iowa's public universities, some are asking whether nearly $30 million that supports an Iowa State University experiment station should be counted toward its 'general university” funds.

It's those general funds that legislators and higher education officials typically refer to when discussing state support for the institutions. And those discussions have been happening a lot lately, with the Board of Regents proposing a new funding model for University of Iowa, Iowa State, and University of Northern Iowa that would tie a majority of the dollars to resident enrollment.

The current breakdown of how state support is distributed to those schools has been central to the debate. Right now, 46 percent goes to UI, 36 percent to ISU and 18 percent to UNI, and some say that's lopsided and doesn't reflect the campuses' enrollment.

However, each university also receives 'special purpose appropriations” from the state.

The largest recipients of so-called special appropriations at the UI include the Oakdale Campus, Hygienic Laboratory and Family Practice Program, netting a total $8.4 million this year. The largest special appropriation for UNI is $5.2 million for a Math and Science Collaborative, also known as the Governor's STEM Council.

ISU is receiving most of its special appropriation support through the Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, totaling $48.2 million.

But several lawmakers recently have asked whether all that money should be considered separate from general university funds. Questions specifically have emerged around ISU's experiment station, which gets the most state appropriations of any special program at $29.9 million.

About 750 projects are linked to experiment station funding, involving mostly ISU employees within the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, said Brian Meyer, director of college relations for that college. About 275 faculty members are funded through the line item, according to Meyer.

'That's how we in our college fulfill the mission of the university,” he said.

The agriculture and life sciences college is different from other colleges, according to Meyer, in that faculty are paid out of both special line items and general appropriations. It's been done that way for a century, he added.

Having the special appropriation enables funding for experiment station projects 'that wouldn't get supported otherwise.” It makes sure they don't get lost among larger appropriations, Meyer said.

'We are able to say, ‘Here is one set of resources that have been in place for a long time that will work on issues of importance around agriculture in the state,” Meyer said.

Salaries

The Iowa State research program dates back more than 125 years to 1888, when it was established to fulfill an applied-research charge from Congress for land-grant universities. The dean of ISU's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences serves as director of the station, which long has been funded apart from the university's general operations.

But analysis of the experiment station's budget for this year shows most of its $35.3 million in resources - which includes both state and federal support - went toward salaries. Employees paid through the station's budget spanned about 25 departments and included professors in sociology, human development and family studies, and apparel, education studies and hospitality management.

'If it's general fund money - if it walks and quacks like it - then we should look at that and consider if it should be general fund money,” said Sen. Bob Dvorsky, D-Coralville.

ISU officials said many employees paid out of the experiment station budget only receive a portion of their salary from that fund - depending on their involvement in research connected with the program. And keeping the station's appropriations separate from the general fund ensures its research and programming doesn't have to compete with other university expenses.

But Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City, said he doesn't see a difference between the experiment station's expenses and those in each university's general fund.

'They seem to be the same,” Bolkcom said. 'Maybe it's time to make sure, going forward, that increases for Iowa State are based on a combination of the” general fund and experiment station fund.

Potential shift

Bolkcom and Dvorsky have been among those lawmakers critical of the regents' new funding model, saying it disregards the extra expense required to educate graduate and professional students - such as the many at UI - and creates detrimental competition for a shrinking pool of Iowa students.

But others have praised the funding model for linking state support with regent goals; for subsidizing resident tuition, which does not cover the cost of an education such as out-of-state tuition; and for benefiting UNI, which many agree has suffered the most from recent cuts in higher education funding.

Proponents of the new system have criticized the current model, saying UI gets significantly more general university appropriations per Iowa student - about $14,000 - than ISU and UNI, which receive more than $9,000 per Iowa student.

The regents' new funding proposal would shift the general appropriations split to 41 percent for ISU, 37 percent for UI, and 22 percent for UNI - based on current student counts.

That could mean a loss of $12.9 million for UI in the model's first year.

But some say the current breakdown isn't as lopsided as it might seem. When comparing the total appropriations each institution receives - including all special requests - UI and ISU come in closer at 42 percent and 41, respectively.

By lumping the experiment station in with ISU's general funds, the general appropriations breakdown shifts to 40 percent for Iowa State and 43 percent for UI.

'Iowa State appears to be well-funded,” Bolkcom said.

‘Its own little animal'

Rep. Dave Jacoby, D-Coralville, said no one wants to cut the experiment station, but there have been 'a number of discussions” around whether it should be included with ISU's general university appropriations.

He said it's different from other special line items across the three campuses - such as the State Hygienic Lab at UI or the Governor's STEM Council based at UNI, which are more like separate entities.

Jeff Weld, executive director of the Governor's STEM Council, said state support for his program is channeled through UNI, and about nine percent is spent on operations, including salaries. The rest of the money, he said, shoots out across the state to support different STEM-related programs and education.

The council's staff members technically are UNI employees, he said, but they were hired from across the country to head the group's communications, fundraising and business efforts.

'It's its own little animal,” Weld said. 'The office could be anywhere in Iowa. We are physically located on the UNI campus, but it's a state initiative.”