Story by Ciara Benham
Staff Writer
Tuition increases, deferred maintenance and increased pension costs were discussed on March 28 at the University Tuition and Budget Forum.
President Bob Jackson defined the upcoming budget changes and goals at the Budget Advisory Committee FY20 Budget and Tuition Review. Jackson said the main focuses of the budget are recruitment, deferred maintenance and raising wages for employees.
“Obviously first and foremost is teaching and learning,” Jackson said. “We can’t keep cutting back and expect great things to happen. This year I think [students] will be pleased in regard to how these things have been addressed.”
The budget has decreased in recent years and is currently around $110 million. In order to increase the budget, the University is trying to focus on boosting enrollment.
In the past, enrollment has been approximately 11,000 students per year, but it is now less than 10,000. With that decrease, Jackson said the University is focusing on finding the “right sizing” for campus and the ideal size of the student population is between 10,500 and 10,700.
In spring 2019, the University was $2.3 million short of its budget projections. With its shortcomings and decreased budget, the University will increase some costs to generate revenue. These increases include a 1 percent tuition increase, a 2 percent increase on housing rates and 2.63 percent increase on meal plans.
Jackson said these rates are on par with public universities across Kentucky, but are still significantly lower than private institutions in the state. These increases are expected to generate at least $740,000 in new revenue.
Aside from students, the University budget is also focusing on faculty and staff. The new budget proposes raising wages to $10.10 per hour for full-time employees in areas such as food service.
The University is also eliminating 29.5 job positions in the coming year. However, Jackson said faculty and staff will not be affected by these cuts.
“About 30 positions will be eliminated,” Jackson said. “No one will be impacted by this due to transitionary retirements or empty positions.”
The budget also focuses on deferred maintenance and campus construction. Some projects outlined in the budget are enhancements to the Curris Center, completion of J.H. Richmond Hall, razing of Woods Hall, pressure washing and painting of New Fine Arts and updating campus buildings to be more energy efficient.
“Deferred maintenance has been an issue that we have discussed on this campus for many months,” Jackson said. “Deferred maintenance issues are issues on nearly every public college university campus and private college university campus. It’s a big issue for Kentucky.”
The University will need approximately $16 million for deferred maintenance projects. To fund these costs, the budget will establish a $7 per credit hour fee on classes for asset preservation. The revenue from this fee will only apply to academic facilities on campus and will not include housing.
The budget is set by the Budget Review Committee composed of faculty, staff, administration and students. One of these students is Student Government Association President and Student Regent J.T. Payne.
“My most significant contribution to the University budget process is my role a student regent,” Payne said. “I am the sole student voting member on the Board of Regents, who actually approves the budget each cycle.”
Payne also appointed students Cassie Wooley and Kelly McIndoo to work alongside the faculty, staff and administration to represent the student body and voice the issues that concern students.
“I was able to discuss budgetary constraints and concerns with many students through student government and other campus involvement,” McIndoo, SGA vice president, said. “Then, I would take those concerns and sit down with J.T. and Cassie and determine how we would approach advocating for those particular issues during budget advisory meetings.”
The budget will be presented at the Board of Regents meeting on April 5 for approval.
