Tagged: um system

Regional news coverage from the KBIA News room, including:

Regional news coverage from the KBIA News room, including:

Former IBM executive Tim Wolfe took office as the new University of Missouri System president on Wednesday. The businessman has old ties to Columbia. 

By Harum Helmy (Columbia, Mo.)

The University of Missouri System Board of Curators is meeting today in Kansas City. One item on the agenda, and on everyone's minds, is the budget.

Columbia attorney Craig Van Matre faces obstacles of time and partisan politics in his bid for a permanent seat on the UM System Board of Curators.

Craig Van Matre’s time is running out as a UM curator. He’s held the position since Governor Jay Nixon appointed him last June, but Missouri’s constitution requires a vote on his confirmation by Thursday. Some aren’t keen on making Van Matre a permanent board member.

The UM system recommends curators approve an average tuition increase of 6.5 percent, with prices at the University of Missouri in Columbia spiking at as much as 7.5 percent.

State Rep. Chris Kelly (D - Columbia) says the decision is inevitable if the system wants to pay its expenses.

"The Governor's office left the Curators no choice but to go to tuition for money. The state's failing in its obligation, so we're transferring the cost of our education from students and their parents," Kelly said.