Hands off higher ed, lawmakers have learned

OLYMPIA -- Even as lawmakers consider eliminating nearly 2,000 state jobs to fill a $2.7 billion budget shortfall, they are unlikely to dent the fastest-growing area of state employment: Washington's public colleges and universities.

No area of state government employs more people, and no state payroll list has grown more in recent years. By some counts, Washington's colleges are among the nation's most heavily staffed.

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Yet, lawmakers and the governor wield little influence over hiring at state colleges, which are run by independent governing bodies. Some Olympia observers have nicknamed the state's schools "little fiefdoms."

Beyond the obstacle of turf, political ramifications weigh heavily on legislative proposals to restrict college employment. Higher education is one of the most powerful lobbies in Olympia -- and it's virtually certain that lawmakers who reconvene for a special session today will decline to interfere substantially with college payrolls.

"What we hear from the higher ed people is that they want more money and more autonomy -- more money and don't tell us how to spend that," said Senate budget writer Dino Rossi, R-Sammamish. "It should concern most taxpayers. There should be some oversight -- unless they're planning to be private colleges."

Others argue that it's not politicians' place to butt into the details of college hiring. Private and federal dollars paid for many of those new jobs.

"What they're trying to do is to keep up with the demand," said Seattle Rep. Helen Sommers, Rossi's budget counterpart in the lower chamber. "The trade-off here is access."

The payroll at Washington's public colleges has grown more quickly than both the state's budgeted enrollment levels and population in recent years, according to the state Office of Financial Management.

Overall, the state has added nearly 10,000 full-timers since 1997; more than half -- 5,442 -- were for higher education, averaged annually as full-time equivalencies. This year, the state expects to spend nearly $2.1 billion in higher ed salaries and benefits, up 44 percent from 1997.

Washington ranks high

According to some outsiders, Washington public colleges rank among the most staffed.

A survey last fall of the 100 best values in public colleges by Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine found that the University of Washington tied with a Florida college for the second-lowest student-to-faculty ratio.

Another survey by the National Center for Education Statistics, a federal government education data office, made similar findings in the fall of 1999.

In student-to-staff ratios, Washington's four-year institutions ranked third-lowest among the 50 states -- or, presumably, best -- in that survey. Student-to-faculty ratios ranked Washington's four-year schools 13th.

Some state budget officers caution that such comparisons are tricky at best. First, colleges use varying definitions in tracking hiring. For example, some analyses include adjunct faculty; some do not. Also, UW-linked hospital staffers inflate Washington's numbers.

Still, Washington's own growth figures are clear:

Today, there are about 7.2 higher education staffers on the state payroll for every 1,000 residents, up from 6.8 in 1997, according to OFM.

Higher education employment grew more than 14 percent from 1997 to this year. Other state employment grew at about half that rate, or 7.5 percent.

Meanwhile, state school enrollment budgeted by the Legislature and governor grew by less than 8 percent. However, in recent years, colleges have enrolled thousands of students beyond the level subsidized by the state. Factoring in those students, or "overenrollment," and student size over that period grew nearly 16 percent, according to the state Higher Education Coordinating Board.

Varies among colleges

The hiring trend varies dramatically among colleges. The equivalent of 44,000 higher ed full-timers are listed on the state payroll this year, although many of those workers are paid from outside dollars, especially at the UW.

Last year, the UW employed nearly 26,000 full-time workers, including hospital staffers, according to the school's figures. That's about 4,000 more than in 1997, an 18 percent increase. The bulk of those new positions was paid by grants, contracts and through health services.

"Most of these people are people that are here because we've gotten money from somewhere else," said Dick Thompson, the UW's lobbyist. "It's just as much of a job-creation opportunity as if Microsoft were hiring them."

"People should be thrilled that they see more people working on research and development at the University of Washington using non-state money," Thompson said.

State dollars and student fees paid for nearly 5,900 of the 26,000 workers. That was an 8.6 increase in state-paid staffers at the UW since 1997.

At Washington State University, the overall rosters have grown 8 percent since 1997, OFM said. Eastern Washington grew 2 percent. The payroll at The Evergreen State College actually fell 2 percent, to nearly 624 full-time workers.

At the same time, Evergreen's enrollment increased about 3 percent.

"We really try to put everything back into the classrooms," Edie Harding, Evergreen's director of government relations, said of the school's budgeting. "We try to be as efficient as we can with our administrative staff."

Although the huge higher ed payrolls grew by more than 14 percent from 1997 to 2003, employment at the Department of Social and Health Services grew only 4.3 percent, or by 737 workers. The number of workers at the Department of Natural resources grew 4.8 percent.

But higher education enjoys independence unlike other state agencies.

"They are clearly the most autonomous part of state government," said Marty Brown, Gov. Gary Locke's budget writer. "If we make a directive limiting hiring, we can't direct higher ed or the other statewide elected officials or commissions. Depending on what their enrollment is, they will just hire people."

The Legislature and governor decide a bottom-line appropriation for colleges, with very few strings attached -- the limited provisos included tend to approve hiring additions, not cuts. College lobbyists "don't even talk to us about hiring," Brown said. They say, "We need more money in the base, (and) we don't want more students."

And lawmakers from districts that include one of the state's six four-year colleges, or their branch campuses, are quite "close to their institutions," Rossi said. "Anything that they don't like would be difficult to pass; that's kind of the reality."

"Any time we try to direct higher ed money, we -- of course -- hear from the higher ed people as to how it will destroy the system," Rossi said. For example, Senate Republicans proposed a 5 percent reduction in state-subsidized tuition waivers. "They didn't like that at all."

The budget process is different for the state's 34 community and technical colleges. There, the Legislature hands the money to an overseeing agency that splits it up.

Sommers said higher ed should be treated differently and allowed to manage its own affairs. She added that the UW and WSU generate $2.1 billion per biennium to the state economy. But Rossi would like to see the state get more control, although he doesn't expect it to happen any time soon.

"How we get to that point, I'm not sure," Rossi said. "We need to have a long-term look at higher ed overall -- funding, spending, goals."

SPECIAL SESSION

LENGTH: Can last 30 days. Additional sessions can be called.

COST: Estimated daily cost is $16,000.

HOT ISSUES: Operating and construction budgets, including possible new taxes; prescription drugs; home-care worker contract; charter schools and other education bills.

POLITICS: Senate has a 25-24 Republican majority. Democrats have a 52-46 advantage in House of Representatives.

ONLINE: Go to www.seattlepi.com, www.leg.wa.gov and www.governor.wa.gov

P-I reporter Angela Galloway can be reached at 360-943-3990 or angelagalloway@seattlepi.com

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