Bulger seeks 10.5% hike in funding

by Daniel J. Fitzgibbons, Chronicle staff

inking the University system to the long-term economic vitality of the state, President William M. Bulger this week asked lawmakers for a 10.5 percent increase in funding for the next fiscal year.

     In testimony before the Senate Ways and Means Committee, Bulger called the $512.9 million funding request a "strategic investment" that "will pay large human and economic dividends for generations of Massachusetts citizens."

     Along with the operating fund request, Bulger said the University is requesting funding for the endowment matching initiative, Commonwealth College, the toxic use reduction program, the Dartmouth campus's College of Visual and Performing Arts in downtown New Bedford and the Advanced Technology and Manufacturing Center in Fall River.

     Bulger also called for the state to develop a "K to Gray" education strategy that provides educational opportunity from kindergarten through retirement. "We cannot compete with other states without such a strategy," he said, citing the importance of education in workforce development.

     "Last year, I chaired the Governor's Committee on Workforce Development, which included members from business, labor and education," Bulger told the panel. "The central conclusion of the committee was this: workforce development is the most pressing economic development issue facing this state today ... and it will be tomorrow."

     Next month, he said, Massachusetts Benchmarks, an economic journal produced by the University in collaboration with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, will report that the Massachusetts economy is increasingly based on knowledge creation and delivery.

     "Over one million people - four out of 10 workers - now participate in the Massachusetts knowledge sector: in education at every level, information technology, financial services and other cornerstones of the economy," Bulger said. Our researchers also looked into the impact of the 1990s booming econ-omy and found that those lacking a four-year degree actually lost economic ground.

     "If you have a four-year degree, knowledge sector jobs will pay on average $52,000 per year. Without such a degree, the pay is about half of that.

     "The four-year college degree is the credential which offers the best promise of obtaining and retaining a middle class standard of living in Massachusetts."

     Bulger acknowledged that lawmakers must make tough choices during the budget-writing process, but emphasized the role education can play in helping citizens improve their lives.

     "Our challenge is to move our citizenry from a pattern of low skills and high public subsidies to a pattern of high skills and moderate public subsidies," he testified. "A vibrant system of public higher education is a certain means of doing this and of helping the Commonwealth to meet the health care, child care, and housing needs of our most vulnerable citizens."

     Bulger also outlined steps the University has taken in response to $28.5 million in state reductions, including the elimination of 150 positions, implementing the state-sponsored early retirement program and increasing student charges.

     "We have also been encouraging and working hard at raising revenue from sources other than the Commonwealth to soften the losses during difficult times like these," said Bulger, reporting that annual private support has increased from $35 million to over $80 million since 1996.

     "And this week we are beginning an unprecedented annual fund drive targeting the 200,000 UMass alumni living in Massachusetts," he said.

     Bulger said the University's endowment has grown from $47 million to more than $140 million, partly through matching funds from the Legislature.

     Commercialization of University research has grown from $300,000 per year to more than $12 million per year, he added.

     He told the lawmakers that the University also now attracts more than $240 million in research funding to the state, third behind Harvard and MIT.

     "It is important to recognize, however, that solid, stable financial support from the Commonwealth creates the foundation for these self-help initiatives," he said. "The Commonwealth's support forms the base for a research enterprise that is valued by federal, corporate, and foundation funding sources."

     State support, he said, also underpin the University's A+ bond rating and provides key funds for capital projects.

     Bulger said the success of the partnership between the University and the Commonwealth is underscored by the admissions outlook. "The best indicator is the response of parents and students to the University's invitation to attend. Applications for the fall classes are up statewide compared to this time last year, and the profile of incoming freshmen is also on the rise."