In the past few weeks, our state's two largest newspapers have devoted coverage to a growing concern about the backlog in state funding for the endowed chairs program. This program was created in 1988 by the legislature to support the establishment of faculty chairs, professorships and lectureships at Oklahoma's public colleges and universities, including Northwestern Oklahoma State University. The overwhelming success of the program was a clear signal the public viewed higher education as a priority investment.

The premise of the program is to allow donors to establish qualifying endowments through private gifts. These endowments would then be matched dollar for dollar by the State of Oklahoma. Interest from the accounts would be used to bolster academic programs. It was a promise made to donors and to institutions.

At Northwestern, endowed chairs have been used to support faculty positions and provide direct financial support to academic programs. These endowed accounts enhance almost every program at Northwestern. Most recently, endowed chairs provided by the Charles Morton Share Trust and the Wisdom Family Foundation provided the funding to start the Doctor of Nursing Practice program, an initiative that will have a dramatic impact on the quality of healthcare in northwest Oklahoma.

Today, the backlog in matching funds owed by the State of Oklahoma exceeds $150 million and no appropriation has been made to the program since 2012. Adding insult to injury, state funding for higher education has been slashed 25 percent since 2008.

Much attention has been given to the large amount of money owed to our state's two flagship universities – more than $130 million. However, this issue affects other institutions as well, including Northwestern. The university and its donors have $8.5 million in endowed accounts that await matching funds. Our students are losing out on hundreds of thousands of dollars each year that could be used to strengthen academic programs.

As we move closer to the start of the 2019 legislative session, it appears an economic rebound will provide lawmakers with additional state dollars to appropriate. The State of Oklahoma has many needs, but legislators need to be mindful of guarantees made to donors and begin to address the backlog. Donors held up their end of the bargain and expect the State of Oklahoma to do so as well.