OHIO UNIVERSITY TRUSTEES APPROVE BUDGET FOR 1998-99 FISCAL YEAR

6/27/98
Contact: Kelli Whitlock, Ohio University News Services, (740) 593-0383.

ATHENS, Ohio -- The Ohio University Board of Trustees on Saturday approved a $387.5 million budget for the 1998-99 fiscal year, up from $366.5 million for the fiscal year ending June 30.

The package includes tuition and fees increases of 6 percent on the Athens campus and an average of 2.5 percent on the university's five regional campuses. The increase raises annual in-state undergraduate tuition and fees on the Athens campus to $4,323, up from $4,080 this year.

"We had hoped to keep the increase to a maximum of 5 percent, but we simply could not do that and make both the salary and technological advancements that we believe are justified and needed," said Ohio University President Robert Glidden. "Further, our state subsidy budget for the 1998-99 fiscal year already has been cut by 0.5 percent to accommodate the needs of K-12 schools. That's half a million dollars for Ohio University. It means that our increase from the state for this year over last is only slightly over 3 percent, whereas it was 6.8 percent last year."

Seventy-one percent of the university's operating budget covers salaries, and most of the tuition increase will be applied there, Glidden said. But 1 percent of the increase is earmarked for technology improvements for students.

"We made the recommendation for a 6 percent increase rather than a 5 percent increase in a pact with students that we would devote that full 1 percent to technology for students," Glidden said. "In other words, we will not spend that money on computers for faculty offices or upgrades in the computer center, but rather, for student-used computing, mostly in the schools and colleges."

The budget also includes $100,000 in new funding for the Student Activities Commission and $1.7 million in funding for new and existing university scholarships and grants. Part of that funding reflects a university policy to raise scholarship amounts commensurate with tuition increases. The increase also contains $724,000 for new scholarships and grants. This new funding includes support for Advantage Awards, a new program that provides renewable four-year tuition waivers to Ohio residents from underrepresented groups. The new funding also will cover 14 additional athletic scholarships as part of the university's plan for compliance with Title IX regulations and gender equity goals.

In other action, the trustees:

• Approved university wide pay increases of 3.5 percent for faculty and nonbargaining unit staff.
• Increased residence hall fees by 8 percent for room and board and 6 percent for university apartments. Six percent of the revenue generated by this increase will be used for a $142 million project to renovate university residence and dining halls, a project approved by the trustees at their April meeting. To fund this project, residence hall fees will increase by 8 percent each year for the next two years.
• Approved $17 million to fund the first two phases of a project to install a campus wide chilled water loop to provide air conditioning for the campus. The project will be implemented in four phases, with the first phase to begin in summer 1999. This centralized system would reduce the university's energy costs and eliminate $10.5 million in repairs and down time common with the university's current cooling systems, which include 50 separate chiller units and more than 1,000 small air conditioning units.
• Approved an increase in the Ping Student Recreation Center from $65 per quarter to $69 per quarter. The trustees also adopted a measure to make the facility fee part of the university's general fee beginning in the 1999-2000 fiscal year.
• Voted to change the name of the Department of Chemistry to the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry to better reflect the department's mission and fields of study. Faculty members say the name change, which coincides with a national trend, will aid in recruiting quality biochemistry graduate students.
• Established the Center for Innovation in Technology and Learning, which will support curriculum innovation using technology and disseminate information about its use throughout the university.
• Appointed Trustee Gordon F. Brunner and Trustee N. Victor Goodman to the Ohio University Foundation Board. The trustees also supported a measure to expand the foundation's board of trustees from 50 members to 60 members to help plan for an upcoming capital campaign.
• Renewed a 25-year lease of part of the university's Eastern campus to Belmont County Technical College, continuing a partnership that began in 1974. The technical college leases the space for $1 a year for its Science and Engineering Building.
• Approved a three-year contract with the Fraternal Order of Police, which represents the university's police officers. The new contract calls for pay increases of 3.5 percent this year and 3 percent each year for the next two years.
• Elected Gordon F. Brunner as board chair for the 1998-99 year and N. Victor Goodman as vice chair.

A new trustee and student trustee joined the board at this meeting. Gov. George Voinovich appointed Jacqueline Romer-Sensky, his deputy chief of staff and a 1983 Ohio University graduate, to a nine-year term on the board. Romer-Sensky, of Westerville, replaces Thomas S. Hodson, whose term expired this year. Sensky is expected to succeed Arnold R. Tompkins as director of the Ohio Department of Human Services. Tompkins, director since 1993, announced he will resign in August or September.

Voinovich also appointed Michelle Miller of New Holland as a student trustee for a two-year term. Miller, 20, is a junior majoring in pre-law and legal communication through the School of Interpersonal Communication. She is a resident assistant, a member of the Student Activities Commission, a peer leadership consultant and a member of Student Judiciaries. She replaces K.C. Melnik, an independent from Westerville, whose term expired this year.