State bursts YSU’s bubble

For a goodly number of Mahoning Valley residents, Youngstown State University is the shining city upon the hill whose beacon light offers hope to this old industrial region.

Without a doubt, much of the credit for such a fawning view of YSU goes to President James P. Tressel, whose popularity and Mr. Nice Guy image have energized his supporters and largely disarmed his critics.

Since his appointment to the presidency in the summer of 2014, Tressel has worked hard to burnish the reputation of the urban university. He and the board of trustees have sought to establish YSU as a leading open-access institution of higher learning that is one of the most affordable in terms of student costs.

Indeed, 11 months ago, Tressel unveiled his vision for the university with an address to the campus community titled “Next-YSU: A New Look for a New Era.”

“We’re at an important crossroads in the history of YSU,” Tressel said in April 2016. Implicit in that statement was the president’s acknowledgment that there are internal pressures with regard to operating budgets and enrollment, and external ones driven by state government’s assessment of higher education.

The directive to university and college presidents from Republican Gov. John R. Kasich and the Republican-controlled Ohio General Assembly is multifaceted: Cut student costs; reduce the average time it takes to earn a bachelor’s degree from six years to four years; end duplication of postgraduate degree offerings; and prepare students for the technology-based workplace.

Front-page story

Given Tressel’s contention that YSU is working to meet the challenges laid out by the governor and the GOP legislative leaders, the banner-headlined front-page story in Monday’s Vindicator must have felt like a punch in the gut.

The exclusive piece by Education Writer Amanda Tonoli focused on the findings of a state review of YSU’s operation.

Here’s the bottom line of the Ohio Department of Higher Education’s Affordability and Efficiency Report: YSU needs to do more with less.

Anyone who has been paying attention to what has been going on in Columbus with regard to higher education won’t be surprised at the bottom line of the report.

Indeed, doing more with less is the mantra the governor has adopted with regard to the public sector in general.

The Task Force on Higher Education Affordability and Efficiency burst YSU’s bubble with its contention that the institution could save more money if it became more efficient.

And if that wasn’t enough, the report provided a comparison that puts YSU in a negative light. It said that Youngstown State is saving just 7.5 percent of what Wright State saves and 9 percent of what Kent State University will save this fiscal year.

Tressel and Neal McNally, vice president for finance and business operations, not surprisingly challenged the study’s analysis of YSU on the grounds that it did not accurately portray the issue of affordability and the progress being made in cutting costs.

That may well be, but YSU did not fare well when it was compared with Wright State in Dayton and Kent State, and that’s the Ohio Department of Higher Education’s point of reference.

Every public university and college in Ohio knew what was at stake because details of the analysis were laid out in House Bill 64. The legislation mandated boards of trustees to generate an efficiency review based on the recommendations of the governor’s Task Force on Higher Education Affordability and Efficiency.

Given the views expressed by the governor and the Republican controlled General Assembly about the need for higher education in Ohio to pull its head out of the sand, the demand for reducing operating costs and increasing graduation rates is not to be taken lightly.

McNally, YSU’s vice president for finance and business operations, is right when he contends that the study is a “political tool.”

“This is meant to highlight the governor’s and Legislature’s commitment to addressing the issue of higher education cost inflation – which is something that is real. But this is something that will poll well with the voters,” McNally told Vindicator Reporter Tonoli.

But politicians don’t make policy decisions in a vacuum. They respond to their constituents.

Public demands

And in Ohio, the public is demanding that state universities and colleges do more with less and reduce student costs. Hence, the push by the governor and the legislature to force presidents and boards of trustees to be accountable for the decisions they make and the money they spend.

One of the reasons for the governor’s Task Force on Higher Education Affordability and Efficiency can be found in the report under the chapter heading “Action Steps to Reduce College Costs.”

Here’s what it says, in part:

“Ohio’s four-year institutions have limited in-state tuition increases more than any other state since FY06, and our two-year schools have among the lowest increases. Yet Ohio’s universities have the 12th-highest average cost of in-state tuition and mandatory fees. And our community colleges have the 16th-highest prices.”

To illustrate the point, the task force report provides some comparative data:

In Fiscal 2013, 65 percent of students who graduated from Ohio’s universities carried some debt – up 7 percent from 2003-2004. Nationally, 60 percent of the graduates were debt-ridden – up 6 percent from 2003-04.

The average debt of Ohio graduates was $28,010 – up 47 percent from 2003-04. Nationally, the average was $25.043 – up 53 percent from the decade earlier.

“That’s why the task for was created: to investigate the cost side of the equation,” the report states.

YSU President Tressel has expressed a desire to grant raises to employees and even to boost the salaries of adjunct faculty. However, in light of the Affordability and Efficiency Report’s finding that YSU could do a better job of saving money through being more efficient, Tressel and the board of trustees have no choice but reassess spending. Granting pay raises cannot be a priority.