Ball State University faces a 4.7 percent, $11.8 million, cut in its operating budget because of a faulty state process for evaluating the school's performance, President Jo Ann Gora said today.
Gora, in a statement released via email, said the reduction in state funding at one point was expected to be more than $23 million, but even half that amount was too much.
"The current funding formula fails to recognize efficiency in areas such as staffing, health care, and utilities, and the continued high performance of institutions such as Ball State and Indiana University that have stable enrollments," Gora wrote.
"That disconnect between performance and resources must be reconciled. I am committed to working collaboratively with (the Indiana Commission for Higher Education) to ensure the formula rewards, instead of penalizes, the state's best performing and highest achieving institutions."
Gora called the state's method for determining support for higher education "a troubling performance funding formula."
She noted that the Chronicle of Higher Education recently listed the school sixth in the nation for improvement in graduation rates among public research institutions between 2001 and 2008. That rating is better than any public research institution in the state, she said.
In addition, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching this year raised Ball State's classification to "research university, high research activity."
"And a number of external studies and data validate that Ball State is both lean and productive, advancing students further with fewer resources," Gora wrote.
Gora's statement came 10 days ahead of the next step in setting the school budget.
The higher education commission will make nonbinding recommendations on tuition increases by about May 13. State law requires a public forum on tuition, and that will be held by the end of the month. In the early summer, the Board of Trustees will vote on the budget and set tuition and fees for 2011-13.
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