Happy February everyone!
I would like to wish everyone a happy new year and hope that you managed to relax, unwind and enjoy your holiday break. That being said, many students, employees and community members have been affected by the destructive Marshall Fire. I would like to remind everyone of the resources, support, and services provided by members of our campus, our system office, and our community.
Kickoff to Budget Planning
In the budget planning office, February means the kickoff to our budget planning for the upcoming year. As soon as we are done with our previous year of reporting requirements in November, we turn to our projected enrollment and revenue estimates for the next year and begin to outline a plan for the General Fund budget.
Budget Submission to the Board of Regents
The February budget submission is preliminary. It is an update to help the Board of Regents understand the projected enrollment, the health of campus finances, and the corresponding campus plans. Although it’s important to be close to our final plans, these projected budgets can, and do, change before the final submission in June.
Currently, we are projecting continued rebounding from our COVID-related low enrollments of fall 2020. The February budget submission will also include three major changes to our tuition and fee structure:
Tuition Tiers
The campus will shift away from our school and college-based tuition structure, and move to four tuition tiers for our undergraduate students. This was approved by the Regents in June 2021. Here is the new structure:
Undergraduate Resident Increase
Campus is planning for a $500 total tuition and fee increase for our incoming undergraduate resident population.
This was discussed and approved by the Regents in June 2021, but still needs final approval by the state legislature. This will allow for a more transparent understanding of the actual dollar amount tuition and fees increase for our incoming cohorts.
Elimination of the Capital Construction Fee
Campus is proposing an elimination of the capital construction fee for all undergraduate and graduate students. If approved by the Board in April, this would save students $200 per year starting in fall 2022.
Additionally, campus has begun remitting all mandatory fees for graduate students on appointment beginning this spring.
One-time 1% Percent Payments & 3% Merit Increase
In addition to FY 2022-23 budget planning, we are working with our partners in Human Resources to allocate funding for the 1% one-time payments, as well as the 3% across-the-board base building merit increase for all faculty and university staff that HR communicated out last week. Please note that classified employees are not included in this merit exercise, as they received a 3% continuing increase at the beginning of the year.
Thanks to everyone for all that you do! I look forward to our continued collaboration as we fix existing issues, tackle new challenges, and support each other in our daily jobs.
Matt Artley, Director of Budget Planning and Policy Analysis