In the last Student Government Association Senate meeting of the semester, senators passed a resolution urging the Alabama state Legislature to increase Auburn’s share of a proposed increase to the education trust fund.
In Gov. Kay Ivey’s recently proposed state budget for the 2020 fiscal year, all colleges and universities in the state would receive an increase in funding. Auburn would receive a 5 percent increase, the lowest increase of any college or university in the state.
“Auburn is facing the decision to potentially raise tuition again,” said Landon Kramer, college of engineering senator. “And obviously administrators want that as little as students do, but that is reliant on our state funding.”
Kramer said the resolution was presented and passed because of SGA’s belief that Auburn deserves a larger portion of the fund because of the economic impact that the University has on the state.
“We believe that Auburn is doing a good job of putting that money back into the state, essentially,” Kramer said. “And so we are hoping to stimulate, further stimulate the economy with funding from the state.”
Kramer said the percentage increase in funding was determined by the total funding that the colleges and universities already receive.
Mady Taylor, College of Science and Mathematics senator, said she was shocked that Auburn was receiving the smallest percentage increase of any university in the state.
The resolution stated that Auburn University educates more Alabamians than any other public university or land-grant institution in the state and has a direct economic impact on every county through the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. The University directly supplements the Alabama economy through research and innovation in the fields of poultry science, culinary arts, additive manufacturing and aerospace and aviation.
Before the resolution was adopted, Taylor urged senators to consider the impact Auburn has on their hometown, not just the Auburn campuses, when voting on the resolution.
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