Ohio University may ask departments to make additional cuts to their base budgets for next year, depending on how the state budget plays out in the coming months.
Units scrambled earlier this year to make one-time cuts to the current year's budget and recently had to make plans to meet reduction targets for the first year of the next two-year budget, which begins July 1.
Those cuts will be to the units' base budgets, explained Bill Decatur, OU's chief financial officer. Academic units were asked to cut 4 to 5 percent, while administrative units were asked to cut 8.5 to 10 percent on average.
OU is planning its next two-year budget based on the governor's proposed plan for the state. Decatur cautioned it will be difficult to know whether each unit will need to cut more from its base budget until the end of June, when the state budget likely will be finalized.
In general, Decatur told the board's Resources Committee the university is taking a very conservative approach to projections.
Overall
we're looking at essentially a no-growth budget for next year Decatur said.
The university is projecting a 5 percent increase in tuition for College of Osteopathic Medicine students, a 4 percent increase in state funding - most of which is dependent on federal stimulus money - and no increase in undergraduate tuition or investment income for next year.
The second year of the budget could see a 3.25 percent increase in undergraduate tuition if current state plans for easing a tuition freeze come through.
Administrators also are assuming a flat enrollment rate, despite offering a new bachelor's in nursing program in fall 2009.
In terms of costs, OU's contract with its unionized employees will determine salary increases for those covered by the agreement, but all other employees will not receive raises next year. This includes postponing continued support for a Vision Ohio initiative that called for $1.2 million over three years to improve faculty compensation.
Decatur said one of the larger expected costs is a commitment to cover scholarships already granted, particularly those from endowments not earning enough money to pay out to students.
We have a significant amount of endowments under water at this time ... which means we can only spend interest and dividends on those accounts Decatur explained. We made a decision that despite those (conditions) we would honor our commitments to students already on scholarship.
The university is committing $1.1 million to cover endowed scholarships, $2 million to cover other undergraduate scholarships and almost $2 million more for student funding in specific programs.
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Emily Grannis
