A budget-writing subcommittee in the Kansas Senate has proposed cutting millions of dollars from the University of Kansas and shifting that money to the KU Medical Center. The plan would also cut Kansas State University. KPR’s Stephen Koranda reports.
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The proposal from Republican Senator Tom Arpke would cut KU’s main campus by more than $9 million over the next two years. Arpke says there would be a similar funding increase for KU Med, with the goal of training more doctors for rural areas.
“So that was the main impetus. This is a benefit for Kansas families that live in rural communities, and when I do votes, I have to take a vote for all of Kansas,” says Arpke.
KU’s vice chancellor for public affairs, Tim Caboni, says KU and the KU Medical Center are part of the same institution.
“What you see today is something that is a negative for the institution, and I understand it's a tough budget that we’re facing, but shifting money around is not helpful,” says Caboni.
The proposal also cuts Kansas State University by more than $4 million and increases funding for Fort Hays State University.
The proposal will go before the full Senate Ways and Means Committee Thursday.
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A budget-writing subcommittee in the Kansas Senate has approved a proposal to cut funding to the University of Kansas main campus by more than $9 million over the next two years. Republican Senator Tom Arpke says the money would be shifted to the KU Medical Center with the goal of expanding the Wichita campus and training more doctors.
“I think that’s a very good use of our dollars, to expand the medical infrastructure, our student load, so we can have more doctors,” says Arpke.
Doug Girod, executive vice chancellor of KU Med, says half their students are graduates of the main KU campus. He says they’ve been asking for funding to expand the Wichita campus, but this isn’t what they wanted.
“To do it at the expense of other Regents institutions, and in particular in this case KU Lawrence, hurts us as much as it helps us,” says Girod.
The proposal also cuts Kansas State University by more than $4 million over two years. It includes funding increases for several projects at Fort Hays State University.
The proposal will go before the full Senate Ways and Means Committee Thursday.