Proposed Ivy Tech funding disputed

Enrollment continues to climb at Indiana's Ivy Tech State College. Now the college plans to expand throughout Monroe County, giving Gov. Frank O'Bannon reason to maintain its funding, said Thad Nation, a spokesman for the governor. \nThis is in contrast to IU, which will have its funding frozen for the next two years if O'Bannon's budget passes. \nThis disparity in funding has given rise to a debate about where the money should be going.\nSome people question whether so much support should be given to Ivy Tech when the state doesn't have the funding for long-standing state universities such as IU.\nState Senator Vi Simpson, D-Bloomington said the expansion of the community college system in O'Bannon's budget recommendation -- which freezes funding for higher education -- reminded her of the same fears she had when the system was first being designed.\n"If the legislature is willing to put money into the budget to fund the system, then I would be supportive," she said. "But if the legislature is put into the position where they have to deduct money from the existing universities, that would be my concern."\nNow before the House Ways and Means Committee of the General Assembly, the budget plan originally carried a $2.2 million increase in funding to help expand the community college system -- far less than previously expected. \nBut Simpson said the bill gives the community college system even less now -- about $500,000. \nNation said the small amount of money put aside for the community college system would help its expansion, while that amount would be of little help in other areas.\n"In terms of real dollars, we are talking about nearly $1 million over two years," he said. "In the higher education budget that is very little. We are looking at maximizing our returns on a fledgling program that has been doing very well."\nO'Bannon originally wanted to fund eight additional campuses for the community college system, but that has been decreased to four.\n"We want to expand much more than that," Nation said. "The cost of opening these campuses is very, very minimal -- about a million dollars over the next two years to open four campuses. It is a minimal cost with a large return."\nEnrollment at Ivy Tech is expanding and the school needs to meet students' needs, said William Morris, vice president of administration for Ivy Tech.\n"(O'Bannon) has included in his budget recognition for enrollment growth," he said. "Ivy Tech has had substantial growth in the last few years. Those students are already here, and we need to provide services for them."\nSimpson disagreed. She said that while Ivy Tech can help train residents to better the workforce, it has been doing that for years and does not necessarily need to be expanded.\n"Ivy Tech is a very positive part of the Bloomington community, it is important for the economic climate, and it keeps jobs in Bloomington," she said.\n"As far as I am concerned, I don't know how we can talk about expansion of the community college system, if we can't fund all the universities at a feasible rate."\nBut Morris said he believes the expansion could help ease the setback caused by the recent layoffs at large Bloomington businesses.\n"I think there are a number of large employers who have had cutbacks in the number of employees and those employees need retraining," he said. "Ivy Tech, of course, offers retooling and retraining to get people back into the workforce."\nDespite the disagreement about the budget proposal, there is little fear among IU and Ivy Tech administrators that the expansion will increase competition between the two schools.