Planning for the Future: The Impact on the Public University Diversity Budget in Time of Recession

INTRODUCTION When looking at news related to public higher education, it is not too hard to find a reference to budget cuts. For example, in Nevada, the higher education budget has been cut by 30 percent since 2009, forcing state institutions to turn away students (Kelderman 2011). The U.S. economy, not to mention the global economy, has been suffering the last few years, and public higher education institutions have felt the pain. As states are confronted with the daunting task of balancing their budgets in the face of diminished revenues, state aid to higher education is reduced. As a result of steep cuts to their operating budgets, some flagship institutions such as the University of Wisconsin-Madison are seeking less state regulation and more autonomy (Stripling 2011), particularly since "the flagship research university has a different expected role and mission from that of the regional colleges or the community college system" (Layzell and Lyddon 1990, p. 17). Eager to increase the percentage of Americans with some form of postsecondary education, President Obama has "proposed a series of federal initiatives to improve college participation and completion rates" (Callan 2011, p. 91). Not even a lingering recession could curb the President's determination to increase access to college, and funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 were used by some states to pump in much needed resources to struggling public institutions. Despite this, many "public 4-year colleges and universities in the United States continue to suffer from the adverse effects of state budget shortfalls that began in the late 1980s" (Okunade 2004, p. 123). Often, when states have to cut their budgets, higher education is at the top of the list for reductions (Delaney and Doyle 2011). As a result, for example, Florida's 11 public institutions had to increase tuition by as much as 15 percent in 2009 and 17 percent in 2010, and Minnesota had to cut back on state financial aid assistance, affecting 9,400 students (Johnson, Oliff, and Williams 2011). Sadly, 43 states have had to make some form of cuts to higher education since the beginning of the 2008 economic recession; Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming were the exceptions (Johnson, Oliff, and Williams 2011). Thirty-five states expect some form of revenue decline for the 2012 fiscal year, thus forcing further cuts to higher education that could go well into the double-digit percentage range (Basken 2011). As institutions have to make the resulting tough decisions as to what does and does not get funded, programs and offices devoted to diversity are not immune from cutbacks (Gose 2009). At its 2010 annual meeting, the advocacy group American Association for Affirmative Action (AAAA) conceded that diversity efforts were at risk due to the bad economy and noted that steps should be taken to limit the economy's impact on programs (Howell 2010). At Temple University, which had once been recognized for its highly diverse student body, diversity services were cut substantially as staff members were reduced by 50 percent (Hernandez 2009). Clearly, America's tough economic times have impacted states to the degree that they have had to cut higher education budgets. The impact of these cuts on the diversity budget is uncertain. What if diversity was central to the institution's planning strategy, like technology? Would diversity then be targeted for harsh cutbacks? The study presented in this article looked at how institutional diversity budgets faired during what is commonly referred to in political and social policy arenas as the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. The article looks at traditional sources of aid to higher education, considers how institutional budgets have been cut, offers planners some data on how diversity units are coping with budget cuts, and presents possible considerations for future diversity planning. …