Towson tuition set to increase by 5% next year: Chandler announces his bid for TU president

By Jay Greene

Towson University students will see a 5 percent increase in their tuition bills next year to help make up for the $3.5 million cut the school sustained from the state legislature, interim President Timothy Chandler said in a town hall meeting Tuesday evening.

In addition, Chandler announced that he will be a candidate for president of Towson, which appointed a search committee earlier this month to find a permanent replacement for Maravene Loeschke, who stepped down for health reasons.

At Tuesday night’s campus town hall meeting, Chandler said the University System of Maryland saw a total cut of more than $40 million in state funding.  He said there is an ongoing battle between the state and the university, with the General Assembly giving the school less money each year.

“We know how difficult it is to pay for this and we are very mindful,” Chandler said.

The university raised tuition by 2 percent earlier this semester after approval from the Board of Regents in January.

“We are now a private institution three and a half days a week…that’s what the funding model looks like,” Chandler said.  “The state is funding us for only one and a half days of the week. How do we fund the other three and a half?”

He said the only way the school can continue providing the current level of services is by raising tuition as well as getting donations, grants and contracts.

“Sadly,” he said, “tuition is the one thing we have at least some control over.”

“We understand that we want to be accessible and that we want to be affordable,” he said. “We will continue to work on that if the state can help us.”

Chandler said university officials have intensified their efforts in fund raising for student scholarships.

“Even if the tuition goes up, we would like to give as much money back to students for scholarships,” he said.

The university currently gives back 18.5 percent of all tuition dollars in scholarships, Chandler said.

“Many of us in this room are first generation college students ourselves,” he said.

“Sharing this financial burden with our students is a decision we take very seriously,” Chandler said in a statement. “After discussing the news with a group of student leaders, they fully understood that the increase was preferred over cutting student services.”

Chandler said the budget cut will not diminish the university’s integrity.

“We are confident that our community’s cooperative spirit and steadfast support will continue to carry us forward,” he said.

Rachel Cocoros, 21, an English major who transferred from Harford Community  College, said she’s not too concerned about the increase.

“Since I already have a lot of student loans and 5 percent isn’t that high, it doesn’t seem that bad,” she said. “If Towson thinks it’s going to help, I say go for it.”

In addition to the tuition increase, Chandler said the university has formed a search committee to find a new president. The search committee will meet for the first time on May 7 to start the search process. Whoever is chosen will be the fourth person to be president in the past five years, according to a press release.

Chandler, who said he will seek the job, took over as president during the fall semester when Loeschke announced she was stepping down for health reasons.

“The search is something that is absolutely vital and necessary for the well-being of the institution,” he said. “It needs to be done openly, it needs to be done honestly…absolutely transparently.”

Chandler said he expects that the process to find a new president will take about six months.

He said being president is much different than being provost, his previous position. He said he hopes that officials pick the best candidate to serves as president.

“That’s what Towson needs and that’s what Towson deserves,” he said.

Tuesday evening’s town hall meeting at provided an opportunity for faculty, students and the administration to come together to discuss the future of the campus.

The meeting came in place of Loeschke’s State of the University address. Loeschke’s health conditions prevented her from making the address, which is normally given in the fall semester.

Chandler said he chose a town hall meeting-style discussion because he wanted it to be more interactive.

In the meeting, he commended each college on achievements and excellence.

Chandler said he hopes to hear other feedback so he can continue to move forward.

“I felt it was a good, open, honest discussion with some interesting and difficult issues,” he said. “I see my responsibility as setting up whoever follows me in the best possible shape.”

He will also be taking points for the recent master plan update into consideration.