Sen. Fady Qaddoura, upper left, presses Indiana University President Pamela Whitten, lower right, during a State Budget Committee meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (Leslie Bonilla Muñiz/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
The day after Indiana’s higher education agency recommended limiting capital projects in the next two-year budget, colleges and universities told lawmakers they want more.
Higher Education Commissioner Chris Lowery on Tuesday recommended that the General Assembly fund each institution’s single-biggest capital priority, for a total of $464 million.
He pushed for greater focus on renovating or maintaining existing facilities, noting the “significant” operating cost savings that work brings.
But Ivy Tech Community College and Indiana University pointed out their numerous campuses as they unveiled price tags for multiple desired capital projects, while Purdue University asked for more attention on semiconductors alongside its capital ask.
Some institutions pulled back on operations requests, noting the state’s fiscal position. Education traditionally eats up half of Indiana’s budget, and lawmakers have grown more anxious about fast-growing Medicaid spending following a $1 billion shortfall last year.
Ivy Tech makes its case
Outgoing Ivy Tech President Sue Ellspermann said the system’s 19 campuses provide accessible, affordable and effective education to low-income, first-generation and older students, including those caring for dependent family members.
“At a time when Hoosiers are increasingly skeptical about the value of a college education or degree, Ivy Tech stands out,” she said. “Because, simply put, Ivy Tech delivers.”
Ivy Tech is Indiana’s largest post-secondary institution, according to Ellspermann. But, she contended, the state has offered a larger proportion of funds to other institutions.
“Ivy Tech needs a bigger piece of the pie to deliver for Indiana, for employers and for Hoosiers,” she said. “Despite the fact that Ivy Tech produced nearly half of post-secondary credentials last year, the college received 18% of higher education operating appropriations. Wouldn’t it be rational for most investors to invest more in entities which deliver more?”
Ellspermann noted the system is self-funding a capital project at a Fort Wayne campus, but needs state support for three other projects totaling nearly $120 million. The campuses would raise and pay for the remaining 10% of costs for their projects.
She outlined a $67 million ask in Terre Haute, noting the campus’ original 60-year-old building lacks a fire suppression system and has outdated labs. A $35 million request for the “landlocked” Evansville campus would replace a partially used strip mall with more room for health care, automative technology and Industry 4.0 efforts. And $15 million would take down the Michigan City campus’ current facility, an old hospital, and build an advanced manufacturing facility.
Ellspermann also asked lawmakers to keep a $9 million line item aimed at graduating more nurses — it was initially approved during the pandemic’s severe nursing crunch — and to add $5 million so that Ivy Tech can keep offering high school students free summertime classes.
IU takes some heat
IU President Pamela Whitten says the university system has already made some progress on its recently adopted strategic plan to support students, foster research and serve the state.
The university has expanded its use of student success coaches to all of its campuses, spent more on research, launched entrepreneurship support program IU Innovates, invested in microelectronics and biosciences, grown nursing enrollment and more.
Whitten asked lawmakers to boost current line items — $2.5 million more annually for a clinical sciences institute and $3.1 million more for the state’s geological and water survey — while adding two more line items: $1.3 million annually for IU Innovates and $5 million annually to support the university’s police.
The university’s top capital priority is a $96 million science building renovation and upgrade project. But Whitten discussed five other priorities worth $334 million.
When Rep. Greg Porter, D-Indianapolis, emphasized the Commission on Higher Education’s one-each recommendation, Whitten countered that IU’s footprint is broad.
“That’s something that we grumble about at IU,” Whitten said of the traditional limit. “We have the Bloomington campus. We have five regional campuses, two sub-regional campuses, large med(ical) school campuses, and yet we are held to the same expectation of one project, as one campus with 8,000 students (would be).”
“If you guys want to consider the size and scope of IU, we would be very pleased to have other projects considered as well,” she added.
Democrats also went after Whitten’s handling of campus protests of Israel’s actions in Palestine. The university changed protest policies shortly beforehand, allowed police snipers on its buildings and arrested dozens.
“How can you stand up, as the leadership of the university, against the pressure of politicians and the pressure of donors (and) do what is right?” asked Sen. Fady Qaddoura, D-Indianapolis. He emphasized freedom of speech rights for conservatives and liberals.
Whitten prioritized safety in her response and “would stand by that.” She said IU privileges freedom of speech but that “it needs to be done in ways that aren’t disruptive.”
She rejected Qaddoura’s assertion that outside forces influenced the university’s decisions.
Republicans, meanwhile, lauded Whitten. Sen. Ryan Mishler, his chamber’s budget head, said Whitten handled the protests “professionally” and that parents and faculty had been complimentary in comments to him.
He also disagreed with Qaddoura’s view of outside influences, adding, “To say politicians shouldn’t have any say, I think is a little extreme. I think we should have some input, because we are funding quite a bit of money into these institutions.”
Rep. Ed Delaney, however, said IU “overreacted,” threatening the university’s “great tradition” of allowing free expression of “unpleasant or critical things.”
“This is not San Fransisco, okay! And what we did at IU was look at the worst thing that happened at the most out-on-the-edge school and assume that maybe it was about to happen (at IU) In my view, it wasn’t about to happen. … Our people are generally very well-behaved.”
Purdue talks ambitions
Purdue President Mung Chiang highlighted his university’s successes in growing in-state student admissions, keeping tuition flat for over a decade, graduating students with high earnings and low student debt loads, and so on.
He said Purdue will focus on developing its new Indianapolis location, its recent Purdue Computes initiative, the One Health Innovation District and its business school.
Chiang asked for no increases in the university’s technology, agriculture, paralysis research and manufacturing competitiveness line item appropriations. He cited economic conditions.
“We received increases on these items just (recently), and we want to make sure that we first spend and invest those resources in the most impactful way with return on those investments,” he said.
He spotlit one capital project: $90 million for a new life sciences research building to support One Health; Chiang said the university would kick in $70 million.
“The impact will be a 140,000-square-foot project that will put Hoosiers’ human, animal and plant health together,” Chiang said.” (We) would invent even more drugs than before, and we will have even more workforce developed out of this facility, and we’ll be able to attract even more talent to come to Indiana, stay in Indiana, and contribute to the One Health initiative.”
He also asked lawmakers to consider creating an “Indiana Opportunity Fund” to help Hoosiers compete for federal funding requiring state matches.
His suggestion would apply to all sectors, although he focused on domestic semiconductor production efforts. A global, pandemic-era chip shortage led to long waits, high prices and national security concerns.
“We cannot rely outside of our country for the future of keeping jobs open, getting the cars and so many other products finished,” Chiang said.
Lawmakers also heard from Ball State University, the University of Southern Indiana, Vincennes University and Indiana State University.
