If Ohio University funds all the items on its academic wish list, it will face a $7.5 million budget deficit next year, said Bill Decatur, vice president for Finance and Administration.
OU's Five Year Academic Action Plan outlines $30 million in Vision Ohio initiatives, such as strengthening undergraduate education and fortifying infrastructure and serves as the framework for the fiscal year 2009 budget.
If we gave all the pay raises and stayed with all the assumptions in the five year plan
we've got a $7.5 million problem that we've got to either find revenues or cut costs to balance the budget said Bill Decatur, vice president of Finance and Administration.
With an ambitious long-term strategic plan unfolding as state revenue is expected to be flat beyond next year, tuition will most likely increase.- we'd need about a 4.5 to 5 percent increase in tuition
Decatur said.
The university created two committees to gather input and make recommendations on the Five Year Academic Action Plan and Five Year Financial Plan, with a Nov. 15 deadline to submit findings to Kathy Krendl, executive vice president and provost. OU President Roderick McDavis will present a final draft to the Board of Trustees at its December meeting.
To get feedback on the strategic priorities laid out in the academic plan, Charles McWeeny, chairman of the academic committee and dean of the College of Fine Arts, is reaching out to the student senates.
The plan met concerns over its hurried drafting, a sense of disconnect and financial uncertainty from student senates, who have just over a month to deliberate.-
said Dominic Barbato, president of Graduate Student Senate. There are way
way more questions than answers.
Sharing concern over funding, Student Senate President Tim Vonville finds it hard to offer full support.-
from a student's perspective
we're being sort of pinched into kind of agreeing with something but they're not really sure where the money is coming from
Vonville said. It's difficult to support something G? when you're not certain of where the funds are going to be coming from.
Sergio Lopez-Permouth
chair of Faculty Senate
declined to comment on the academic and financial plans as he is still in the discussion process and it would be premature to make a general statement.
After the various constituencies submit input to the committee
