When state legislators want to know if a state program is functioning well and using the government’s money appropriately, they call on Legislative Auditor General Wayne L. Welsh.

At the request of legislative leaders, Welsh and his staff of auditors review government programs, give recommendations for their improvement, assess their efficiency?and sometimes recommend termination of the programs.

The U has come under Welsh’s probing eyes more than once. Currently, his staff is reviewing the admissions process at the U’s School of Medicine, after one legislator perceived bias in the process.

But considering all of the programs, people and policies at an institution as large as the U, very few groups ever have to pass a formal audit. The U’s engineering department, however, recently passed an informal one.

And passing such informal audits is crucial for the U to win funding allocations from legislators, both during the current funding drought, as well as in future, more hospitable funding climates.

The present funding problem stems from Utah’s lagging economy. Earlier this year, when tax revenue projections dropped, Gov. Mike Leavitt asked almost all state institutions to cut their budgets by 2.5 percent?$15 million of higher education’s budget for 2001. In mid October, the governor asked state entities to shave an additional 1.5 percent off expenditures. Fortunately for the U, though, this cut excluded higher education.

Gov. Leavitt required these cuts because of a steep shortfall in anticipated tax revenues that has now surpassed $200 million. Understandably, such a funding crisis, as many have called it, has legislators and U administrators feeling “very anxious,” according to Nancy Lyon, assistant vice president for government affairs.

Lyon said concerns about getting appropriate funding are multiplied by this year’s unusually high student enrollment. Figures from the Office of Budget and Resource Planning showed student enrollment up 5.6 percent in 2001, compared to just 1.5 percent in 2000.

“We need to help legislators understand when the economy [falters], there is a greater need for funding,” Lyon said, explaining that many students return to school when the job market cools.

According to Lyon, the U’s “bigger” budget issues include funding increased student enrollment, boosting faculty salaries, alleviating funding problems in the medical school and paying for mandated costs like energy and water.

These funding priorities?necessities, really?make a long list in a short-budget year. How U administrators can convince a Legislature strapped of money to fund so many projects is uncertain. One way the school can help its own cause, at least in the future, is by following the example of the U’s engineering department in wake of the state’s new engineering initiative.

This initiative, which Gov. Leavitt signed into law in March, gave state funds for improved engineering education at Utah’s colleges and universities.

Gov. Leavitt ultimately wanted to double the number of engineering and computer science students in five years and triple them in eight. Officials hoped that such advancement would help make Utah a technology powerhouse.

After receiving the funds from the initiative, Gerald Stringfellow, dean of the College of Engineering, quickly began searching for new faculty members and purchasing equipment to improve the departments of bioengineering and computer science.

However, as the current funding crunch developed, some wondered if the engineering initiative would be one program sent to the back burner. Dean Stringfellow, for one, feels comfortable the program will continue for this reason: The department got “fast results.”

Recently, Stringfellow met with Gov. Leavitt and other legislative leaders to discuss the initiative. Stringfellow said, “They wanted to see results. The good thing about it was we were able to show them that we’ve had results in the first year.” These results, he said, include 35 new students majoring in the departments, and a new bioengineering undergraduate program.

“For legislators, it’s so seldom that people are able to come back” and show measurable results, Stringfellow said. Having seen this progress, Stringfellow said, “[The Governor and legislators] have committed to us that they would do everything in their power to keep some continuity in the program.” Lyon also feels the engineering initiative is on safe ground. “The governor and the legislative leadership seem committed to the project. We certainly hope that will continue,” she said.

If the U’s engineering program continues to “act quickly” and get “fast results,” the question will not be how the Legislature can afford to fund the program. The question will be how the Legislature can afford not to fund it.

In August, Stringfellow said of the department’s progress, “Without the money, it would have been impossible.”

The same is true of every program U administrators will be pushing for this budget year. The funds they get from the Legislature will greatly influence the U in the future?more important, however, maybe what they do with the money once it is in their hands.

Mike welcomes feedback at: [email protected] or send letters to the editor to: [email protected].