The 
Michigan 
House 

Appropriations 
Committee 

released a proposal on Monday 
to 
change 
how 
the 
state 

allocates 
funding 
to 
public 

colleges and universities. The 
proposed 
legislation 
would 

assign 
operational 
funding 

increases to universities based 
on student population instead of 
six performance metrics. This 
would effectively redistribute 
money from the University of 
Michigan’s Ann Arbor campus 
and 
other 
institutions 
that 

previously 
received 
large 

performance 
increases 
to 

universities that received lower 
increases but have comparable 
student body sizes, including the 
University of Michigan’s Flint 
and Dearborn campuses. 

The 
Republican-led 
House 

Appropriations 
Committee 

released the draft as part of 
the ongoing budget negotiation 
process that began Feb. 11 when 
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer first 
presented her budget proposal 
for fiscal year 2022 to the state 
legislature. 
Legislators 
must 

send their finalized budget for 
Whitmer to sign by July 1, as the 
new fiscal year starts Oct. 1.

The 
proposal 
would 
alter 

the 
distribution 
formula 
for 

state 
appropriations, 
which 

currently 
determines 
annual 

increases to funding at public 
universities based on a number of 
performance metrics including 
research 
expenditures, 
six-

year graduation rates and total 
degree completions. Under the 
new House proposal, the funding 
each university receives would 
instead be determined by the size 
of the student body, with each 
student earning their university 
an average of $6,299. 

If passed, the University of 

Michigan-Ann 
Arbor 
would 

receive 12.2% less state funding 
— about a $40 million decrease — 
in fiscal year 2022. Meanwhile, 
some 
institutions 
that 
have 

traditionally received less state 
money in the past, including the 
University 
of 
Michigan-Flint 

and the University of Michigan-
Dearborn, would receive a 10% 
increase — about $2.5 million for 
each campus.

The 
Appropriations 

Committee 
capped 
increases 

in funding at 10% for each 
university. A May 4 version 
of the bill released by the 
Appropriations 
Subcommittee 

on 
Higher 
Education 
and 

Community Colleges did not 
include the cap, and universities 
received funding increases as 
high as 33%. The recent proposal 
would take any increases larger 
than 10% and reallocate those 
funds 
to 
universities 
who 

saw smaller increases or even 
decreases in the subcommittee 
proposal. If that proposal had 
passed, the Ann Arbor campus 
would have lost over 13% of its 
2020-21 funding.

Whitmer’s proposed budget 

called for the state to increase 
higher education funding by 
over $29 million. Each university 
would be given a one-time 2% 
increase 
over 
its 
FY2020-21 

funding. The House proposal 
would 
remove 
the 
one-time 

increase, 
funding 
only 
the 

mandatory increase in funding 
for the state’s Michigan Indian 
Tuition Waiver program, which 
waives tuition for eligible Native 
American students.

Funding based on student 

enrollment, 
also 
known 
as 

formula 
funding, 
has 
been 

criticized 
in 
the 
past 
for 

incentivizing high enrollment 
rates rather than encouraging 
high-quality education.

University 
President 
Mark 

Schlissel wrote in a letter to 
House 
Appropriations 
Chair 

Thomas Albert, R-Lowell, that 
if passed, the proposal would 
hurt the University’s ability to 
provide quality education to 
lower-income 
Michiganders 

through financial aid programs 
such as the Go Blue Guarantee.

“Michigan 
ranks 
below 

the 
national 
average 
in 

postsecondary degree attainment 
and 33rd in median household 
income,” Schlissel wrote. “This 
is not coincidental. The data have 
shown consistently that workers 
with higher levels of education 
earn higher wages, yet Michigan 
ranks 44th in per-capita support 
for higher education.”

Albert was not immediately 

available for comment at the time 
of publication.

3

Thursday, May 13, 2021

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com NEWS

Over 700 University of Michigan 

instructors 
are 
calling 
on 
the 

University to mandate COVID-19 
vaccinations for all students attending 
in-person classes next fall, as well as 
all employees, according to a petition 
that began circulating Wednesday. 
If the University does not institute a 
mandate, the petition requests that 
any instructor be able to opt out of 
in-person teaching and engagement 
with students. The petition cites 
the 228 peer institutions that have 
mandated vaccines for the upcoming 
school year, 76 of which are public.

“We are concerned that students 

who refuse to be vaccinated may be 
overrepresented among our incoming 
class precisely because we do not 
mandate vaccination, while students 
and parents who are concerned about 
COVID safety would prefer to attend a 
school with more safety precautions,” 
the petition reads.

The instructors petition that the 

hypothetical vaccination requirement 
go into effect on the first day of Fall 
2021 classes if the FDA has given full 
approval to at least one COVID-19 
vaccine by then. Pfizer is expected 
to file by the end of May for full FDA 
approval. 

The instructors are also petitioning 

for exemptions to in-person teaching 
regardless of a vaccine mandate for 
those with unvaccinated children, 
citing expectations that the FDA will 
likely not approve vaccines for young 
children until the end of 2021 at the 
earliest. This request also stems from 
the concern that faculty will still face 
some pandemic-related issues such 
as childcare and/or family members 
with 
underlying 
conditions, 
the 

petition says. 

The 
instructors 
suggest 
only 

the University only grants vaccine 
exemptions required by law.

“Any person who is not vaccinated 

endangers the community, especially 
those who are prevented from getting 
vaccinated for medical reasons,” the 
petition reads. “The approach used 
by the State of Michigan for K-12 
should be used as a guide: The state 
requires childhood immunization 
for those who attend public schools, 
and parents who claim a non-medical 
exemption are required to meet with a 
health educator.”

The University announced in 

March that the vast majority of small 
and medium-sized classes would 

be delivered in-person. The petition 
claims one of the University’s schools 
had indicated courses would be hybrid 
or virtual before changing the format 
to in-person without the consent or 
knowledge of the instructors. It also 
states that instructors at another 
school were given the choice between 
teaching 
in-person 
and 
taking 

medical leave.

Lastly, the petition calls for the 

University to “provide full financial 
support for each school to test and 
repair ventilation systems in their 
respective classrooms to ensure safe/
sufficient ventilation for instruction.” 

The petition comes just weeks 

after the University announced a 
vaccination requirement for students 
living in on-campus housing for the 
fall semester. Oakland University is so 
far the only other college in Michigan 
to announce any such requirement.

In an email to The Daily, U-M 

spokesperson 
Rick 
Fitzgerald 

wrote that while the University is 
continuing to strongly encourage all 

members of the campus community 
to receive a COVID-19 vaccination, 
the University currently has no plans 
to institute a campus-wide vaccine 
mandate beyond the requirement 
for residence halls. Fitzgerald wrote 
students and employees who do not 
get a vaccination will be subjected to 
similar virus mitigation strategies that 
were implemented in the Winter 2021 
semester (such as weekly COVID-19 
testing).

“We remain confident that as 

we progress together toward a 
residential 
fall 
term 
experience 

with most classes offered with 
in-person instruction, we will have 
a sufficiently high percentage of our 
community vaccinated.” Fitzgerald 
wrote. “Encouragement may be more 

effective than a mandate to achieve 
the goal of maximizing vaccinations 
against COVID-19 in the months 
ahead.”

Fitzgerald further explained the 

University’s thought process for only 
requiring vaccinations for students in 
on-campus housing.

“We do not require students to live 

in residence halls, so students who 
object have other options,” Fitzgerald 
wrote. “Also, the public health 
benefits of a vaccinated residence hall 
community are compelling because of 
the densely populated conditions of 
residence-hall living.”

Fitzgerald also noted an effort in 

the Michigan Legislature seeking 
to prohibit public universities from 
requiring vaccinations to enroll or 
attend classes.

“While we oppose such a measure, 

we must respect the legislative process 
as it plays out,” Fitzgerald wrote.

After choosing to receive the 

vaccine, 
LSA 
freshman 
Emma 

Kortmansky expressed excitement 

as she prepares to attend in-person 
classes for the first time this upcoming 
fall semester.

“In the fall, there are going to be a 

lot of changes with students attending 
classes in person for the first time,” 
Kortmansky said. “I think it is really 
important that everyone attending 
classes or in person activities is 
vaccinated to protect everyone on 
campus, especially those at high risk.”

In an interview in March with The 

Daily, U-M President Mark Schlissel 
displayed optimism about the fall 
semester and said that much of what 
the fall semester will look like will 
depend on how many students are 
vaccinated. 

Over 700 U-M instructors call for campus-

wide vaccine mandate

State House proposes new funding 

model for higher education

KAITLYN LUCKOFF

Daily Staff Reporter

DOMONIC COLETTI

Summer News Editor

Read more at michigandaily.com
Read more at michigandaily.com

MADDIE FOX/Daily

An Ann Arbor resident receives a COVID-19 vaccine at Meijer in Ypsilanti.

