I n d e p e n d e nt
Issue no.
S t u d e nt
V o ic e
o f
B o is e
S tat e
S inc e
1933
53
April
1
2013
Volume 25
w w w.arbiteronline.com
Boise, Idaho
Top Stories
First issue free
Dollars
Final Bouts
should follow
students
Wrestling wraps up its season at NCAA Championships.
page
7
Junior Lance Moore multi-tasks his way through Boise State.
page
1
1
I am Lance
4
1
1
Tennis Rolls
Funding inequality at public universities Bryan Talbot/THE ARBITER
Men’s tennis picks up two key victories over the break.
page
8
Weather Today
Mostly Sunny
71º high
50%
Amy Merrill News Editor
Dollars should follow students. Stacy Pearson, vice president of Finance and Administration has said as much and so has Ryan Gregg, Associated Students of Boise State University (ASBSU) president. The idea of state dollars following students—regardless of which four-year public institution they attend, seems sound; however, in the past few years Boise State lost out on $10.3 million dollars in Enrollment Workload Adjustment (EWA) funds. The EWA is money given
to the State Board of Education (SBOE) by the state legislature. The money is intended to ease financial growing pains experienced by state universities from growing enrollment, although certain degrees and programs are taken into consideration before the funding is distributed. There are four state universities in Idaho: Boise State, Lewis and Clark State College, Idaho State University and University of Idaho. The four schools are each considered for a part of the financial pie which is distributed by the SBOE, but each school does not receive an equal amount.
The EWA is calculated by using a 3-year rolling average of growth in credit hours weighted by course level and discipline to account for big changes in enrollment in a single year.
Why should it matter if the dollars follow the students? For the most part, the EWA was funded for a while. However, the problem was when the legislature first started funding the EWA, the institutions weren’t on an even playing field. “When you start adding
this enrollment workload adjustment; you’re doing so on an unequal base,” Pearson said. The formula for the EWA was conceived in the 90s but after only a few years the institutions started voicing issues they saw with the funding distribution. Boise State and Idaho State University claimed they needed additional funding to correct inaccuracies caused by the funding starting on a uneven field. Based on the claims being made by the universities that the funding was creating an inequitable environment, the State Board decided a study should be done to
verify or reject the claims being made. “What happened in a nut shell: the study identified an inequity which said Boise State should get more money,” Pearson said.
How does the funding inequality affect students? The yellow triangle indicating a student has been waitlisted for a class, or worse yet, the blue box indicating a class has been closed to enrollment, affects many students across a range
See Dollars I page 3
chance of precipitation
Tomorrow
Mostly Sunny
71º high
50%
chance of precipitation
Wednesday
Mostly Sunny
71º high
50%
chance of precipitation
What’s Inside News Briefs
page
News
page
Opinion
page
Sports
page
The Arbiter
2 3 5 7
devin ferrell/THE ARBITER
Treefort
Treefort ended its second-annual run on Sunday, and despite disagreeable weather, the end result was an awesome kick-off to spring break. With some big-name indie artists as well as a lot of lesser-known artistst it was pretty hard to go wrong, even just blindly picking artists at random from the schedule. Check out photo slideshows from Treefort as well as band profiles and interviews at arbiteronline.com. arbiteronline.com