Wednesday, September 16, 2009 9:55 PM CDT
College leaders want MAP funding back in state budget
By HERB MEEKER, Staff Writer
hmeeker@jg-tc.com
MATTOON — Eastern Illinois University student body Executive Vice President Eric Wilber hopes state lawmakers can put Monetary Award Program funding back on the map in Springfield.
MAP grants are scheduled to go to zero funding for the spring 2010 semester after full funding this fall semester. That could affect 2,750 Eastern students and about 1,200 students for Lake Land College, according to leaders of both institutions.
Based on financial need, MAP funds are designed to help the neediest college students in the state.
That is why Eastern and Lake Land students are gathering letters urging lawmakers to reconsider cuts in MAP funding. The letters are being collected by student organizations on campus.
This budget cutting is not a cause for mere belt-tightening for students next semester, Wilber said. It could lead to packing up and leaving.
“Students may have to drop out of school. Something has to be done soon because students here have to make up their minds whether they will come back for the spring,” said Wilber. “We’ve heard of students with two or three jobs and there is still not enough money for them to stay in school.
“They are doing all they can to stay here so the state should do their part to help them.”
College administrators realize the clock is ticking with spring registration just around the corner. The hope is that a fall legislative veto session might produce a monetary reprieve for MAP.
“Students dropping out is what we’re afraid of. It would affect Eastern more, but for us it comes down to the neediest students would drop out completely,” said Lake Land President Scott Lensink.
“Estimating what the impact will be now is difficult. We’re trying to consider stopgap measures to help the neediest of the needy right now. But that will only amount to one out of eight,” said Eastern President Bill Perry. “For many students, their families are worrying what will happen next year.”
The two presidents offered facts and impact predictions during a visit to the Mattoon Journal Gazette/Charleston Times-Courier office Tuesday. They are joining together to support the reinstatement of MAP funding.
Lensink noted some supporters of community colleges in Illinois say a cut in MAP funding will help two-year colleges over four-year universities due to the different in tuition costs — university students could merely transfer to community colleges. But Lensink said a community college dividend from MAP cuts sends the wrong message.
“We’ll be eliminating people from the lowest level from all colleges. We’ll not be serving people in Illinois who need education to change their lives,” Lensink said. “Students married and with children receive MAP money. And cutting this comes at the worst time because you have parents losing money to pay cuts or losing their jobs.”
Both presidents said some donations can be sought to help fill the gap on MAP cuts, but those revenue sources, including Eastern’s year-end appeal drive and the Eastern and Lake Land foundations, are limited. Academic foundations provide assistance to students, but reductions in donations have hurt these organizations already.
“At a time when we’d like to make up for this with our foundations, we can’t. Our foundations are being stretched to the limit,” Lensink said.
But Perry said officials at colleges like Eastern and Lake Land are doing more than just complaining.
“We’re not wringing our hands; we’re rolling up our sleeves. We believe this is an important issue of public policy,” Perry said.
And that is why students at both colleges — plus community members — are being asked to join in the letter-writing campaign to their respective lawmakers.
“Part of the educational process for our students is knowing how the governmental process works. That is why the students are being mobilized,” Perry said.
The effort has gathered 300 letters at Eastern since Monday, Wilber said. He hopes that number grows before the deadline of Oct. 15 for delivering the letters to the Illinois General Assembly in Springfield.
To join in the letter campaign, those interested should stop by the Eastern Student Government or Lake Land campus life offices.
Contact Herb Meeker at hmeeker@jg-tc.com or 238-6869.
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Jim1969 wrote on Sep 17, 2009 3:41 AM: