MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon discussed Granholm’s proposal and possible future issues with state appropriations at Friday’s MSU Board of Trustees meeting. Simon said Granholm’s recommendation is consistent with multiple-year budget planning at the university.

Despite the consistency, the actual appropriation MSU will receive is contingent on numerous factors and will take months to sort out, said Steve Webster, MSU vice president for governmental affairs.

“You’ve got an economy undergoing great change, resulting in lowered state revenues,” Webster said. “And you’ve got increased need for higher education.”

The time it takes legislators to deliberate on the state’s budget makes it difficult to plan for the future, Webster said.

The state also faces an approximate $1.7 billion budget deficit, while underlying revenues that support state appropriations are at about a 20 percent deficit, he said. In light of this, Webster said Simon and MSU Provost Kim Wilcox have asked each operating unit on campus, such as academic departments, to examine how they would operate under a 20 percent funding decrease.

That request has factored into possible departmental, program and specialization eliminations, announced last semester.

“All of that planning … is playing out in the budget recommendations for the individual units now across campus,” Webster said.

Simon said the university uses a multiple-year planning cycle when formulating its budget due to the scale of the state’s budget woes. For example, in June 2009, the board laid out a budget development overview, which included budget guidelines for the 2009-10 fiscal year and preliminary guidelines for the 2010-11 fiscal year, including possible tuition increases.

“We felt it was important given the gravity of the decisions we need to make and try to put them in a multiyear context,” Simon said. “I think it gives (us) some grounding for planning ahead.”

MSU Trustee Donald Nugent said he hopes legislators act quickly on budget decisions, considering it makes budget planning at the university level difficult. State legislators frequently approve Michigan’s budget close to the start of a new fiscal year — which starts Oct. 1 — while the university must approve its budget by June 30.

“Obviously, they’re going to have to find some sources of revenue if (appropriations are going to be the same as last year,” Nugent said. “It’s going to be a real battle.”

Going (darker) green

The board also decided at Friday’s meeting to change MSU’s current official shade of green to a darker hue.

Simon said the current lighter green was approved by the board in 1997. Simon said the color will be changed as a way of pushing uniformity in various media across campus, including sports uniforms and printed materials.

The current shade did not transfer well when printed on different media, Simon said. She said the switch will not be costly and will be carried out gradually.

“I don’t really see any dramatic changes from the appearance. It’s a matter of trying to push uniformity.”