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Wichita State president asks legislature for $3.4M workforce funding, highlights research growth and compensation gap
Summary
WSU President Rick Muma told the Committee on Higher Education Budget that a $3.4 million request would help 1,700 students, highlighted $392 million in recent research expenditures (projected $450M next year), and said the university faces a roughly $25.8 million annual gap to reach market compensation for employees.
Wichita State University President Rick Muma told the Committee on Higher Education Budget that his institution seeks a modest $3.4 million workforce development increase to bring about 1,700 additional Kansans into college programs and that continued investment in need-based aid and student-success initiatives has improved enrollment and retention.
"We have a small request, of $3,400,000 to help an additional 1,700 students," Muma said, framing the ask as a targeted investment to close modest "gap" amounts that prevent some adults from enrolling. He said the request is tied to efforts to reach adult learners in Sedgwick County and across the state and that the average gap keeping those students out of college is about $2,000.
Muma described WSU's research trajectory: "This past year... we surpassed $392,000,000 in research expenditures," and he said the university expects research expenditures to grow toward $450 million next year. He credited industry partnerships on WSU's innovation campus, including work at the National Institute for Aviation Research, for much of the growth and said the research activity supports local jobs and company recruitment.
On employee pay, Muma said WSU has a multi-year, market-based compensation plan and estimated a roughly $25.8 million gap to reach market medians, a target the university is phasing in over five years. He warned that the university has already absorbed significant reductions: "We've cut $34,000,000 out of our SGF allocation," he said, and those reductions have driven nearly 200 position reductions.
Committee members asked follow-up questions about residency of the students served, online enrollment and endowment use. Muma said about 10% of students participate fully online and described the university endowment corpus as about $330 million with an annual payout in the range of $10 million to $15 million used for scholarships and restricted purposes.
