Higher education center wins more state funding

Budget nearly doubles for Southern Md. site

Friday, April 11, 2008

Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by CHARLES E. SHOEMAKER Del. John Bohanan (D-St. Mary’s) helped push across a boost in funding for the Southern Maryland Higher Education Center in this year’s legislative session. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

It took 87 of the session’s 90 days and fierce negotiations that impeded passage of the state’s $31.2 billion budget before the mission was accomplished. Under the compromise struck by budget negotiators on Friday, SMHEC and five other regional institutions across the state will split $1.65 million in fiscal 2009, nearly twice the $850,000 they receive now.

‘‘All of them have been operating on a shoestring,” Bohanan said in an interview on Saturday. ‘‘This relieves some of that pressure, allows them to do more marketing and provide more services to folks in the rural areas who want to further their education while still working.”

Even with the extra money, the regional centers will only be funded at about 45 percent of the level they should be, according to figures from the Maryland Higher Education Commission, Bohanan said.

The enhancement wasn’t easily secured. Bohanan, a chief House budget writer, initially proposed shifting as much as all $2.1 million from the University System of Maryland at Hagerstown to the regional centers, which met immediate resistance from Washington County lawmakers. Such a severe reduction – Hagerstown could have regained up to $700,000 through the Maryland Higher Education Commission – might have forced the three-year-old center to shut its doors, they argued.

Bohanan countered that the regional centers independent of the University System of Maryland receive far less state assistance per pupil and money should be dispersed more equitably.

Combined, the six centers enrolled more than 3,000 full-time equivalent students in the current fiscal year and received $850,000 from the state. The Hagerstown campus reeled in just over$2 million for its 232 FTES.

‘‘These centers didn’t even exist 15, 18 years ago,” he said. ‘‘They are now an important part of the higher education structure in the state for continuing higher education opportunities, especially in the rural areas.”

Del. John P. Donoghue (D-Washington) restored $1 million for the Hagerstown school, but the chambers still differed in its funding allocations. The Senate wanted to keep the full $2.1 million allocation; the House proposed up to $1.7 million.

Budget negotiators stood their ground for a full week, in effect holding up passage of the state budget until a resolution could be ironed out.

‘‘They and the system believed this would go away,” Bohanan said of Western Maryland lawmakers and the University System of Maryland administrators. ‘‘It’s the first time we really involved the system in drawing attention to the matter.”

In the end, lawmakers trimmed Hagerstown’s allocation by only $100,000 and maintained the $800,000 bump for the regional institutions. Both sides said they’re pleased with the final product.

‘‘There was incredible anxiety back in Washington County over this whole issue,” Donoghue said. ‘‘When all was said and done, we worked it out. I think John [Bohanan] stood firm in his belief that the school in his area needed some more funding. I don’t fault him for that. I just wanted us to develop a process that was fair.”

Sen. Donald F. Munson (D-Washington) also offered his gratitude to Bohanan repeatedly after the deal was reached.

Bohanan said he didn’t bend because the six regional centers in California, Waldorf, Laurel, Hanover, Aberdeen and Wye Mills, carry little sway around State Circle. ‘‘The problem with the regional higher educational centers is that there’s no natural advocate or champion for them right now. Somebody’s got to stand up for them.”

It’s unclear how the extra money will be dispersed, but SMHEC will use its share to hire extra staff, said Executive Director Mel D. Powell.