Eastern Kentucky University - Milestone Yearbook (Richmond, KY)

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20 Student Life Commonwealth Hall is just one of the high-rise dormitories built on campus during the educational boom of the 1960 ' s and 70 ' s

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University President )-C. Powell contemplates cut backs in state financing facing higher education. President J.C. Powell explains steps the University has taken to handle cut backs that have occurred since 1980. With President Ronald Reagan ' s mandate from the people to trim federal spending and Gov. John Y. Brown ' s Kentucky and Company Government, higher education has become the main target of bud- get cuts. From the growth and expansion of the 60 ' s and 70 ' s, it has become a matter of Economy vs The University for the 80 ' s. Like all colleges and universities in the state, Eastern has had to trim its budget several times since 1980. In an effort to cope with budget cuts the University made several adjustments. Positions that became va- cant during the year were filled only if they were es- sential. An across-the-board reduction of 10 percent in operating expenses was also put into effect. in an effort to cope with budget cuts and maintain its quality education the University ' s Board of Regents requested general fund appropriation increases of $18.3 million for the 1982-84 biennium budget. University President J.C. Powell said in an interview, ... if we set as our only goal the provision of un- avoidable cost items and cost of living increases, we would have to make enough reductions in our operat- ing expenses to achieve them. Equally important, however, is that since about 1978 or 1979, we haven ' t increased our allocation for operating expenses, educational supplies, office sup- plies, or travel — the sort of things that are necessary to keep up. When you consider that inflation has been somewhere near dou ble-digit during that period of time, we in effect have lost 30 to 40 percent in effec- tive purchasing power. As for Eastern, we are trying to find ways to im- prove our academic programs. The thrust of the 80 ' s in higher education will be toward quality, not quantity. Student Life 21