University of Missouri announces cuts to balance the budget

University of Missouri officials plan to make big cuts to an investment program in order to balance the books after a surprise cut in state funding. The UM System says the Enterprise Investment Programs budget will drop from $5 million to less than $3 million. UM System Vice President for Finance and Administration, Nikki Krawitz, said the year-old program helps bring University research and inventions to the marketplace. This was an opportunity for us to help faculty and those interested in helping faculty start up businesses based on that research and create jobs and employment for the state of Missouri, Krawitz said. UM System Interim President Stephen Owens explained in a statement that cutting the budget of the Enterprise Investment Program almost in half was not appealing. But he preferred it to the other options presented to him by the Board of Curators. Those options included charging students fees and reducing the money used for merit-based employee raises. The Enterprise