Ohio University might face less daunting budget cuts than it originally projected for next fiscal year.
The university has changed its estimated budget gap from $32 million to $19.7 million based on the governor’s biennial budget proposal, which was released March 15.
“We did not take an approach of just cutting,” Gov. John Kasich said at a press conference the same day.
University officials originally projected OU would have a $32 million hole in its budget next year, caused by a projected $27 million reduction in state funding, $5 million increase in health care costs and $600,000 increase in utility spending.
Now that Kasich has released a budget draft that contains less severe state higher education funding cuts, OU is estimating it will only see a $16.2 million total decline in state support, according to an email sent to OU students and employees from President Roderick McDavis. The university also is expecting to receive a lapsed payment of $9.2 million from the state this July.
OU’s Athens campus received $98 million in State Share of Instruction funding this fiscal year. State Share of Instruction funding helps keep the cost of tuition down at Ohio’s public colleges and universities.
“We could say that (this budget) is better than we anticipated,” said Executive Vice President and Provost Pam Benoit.
The budget proposal, which must be approved by the state’s legislature before it can go into effect, continues a 3.5 percent cap on tuition increases that former Gov. Ted Strickland first implemented. OU has not yet decided if there will be a tuition increase for next school year.
“Tuition has got to be constrained if we are to retain affordability,” said Stephen Golding, vice president for Finance and Administration. “… We have to stay focused on those types of issues.”
Kasich’s budget draft also includes a $326,000 funding reduction for OU’s Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs and a $1.5 million reduction to clinical teaching for the College of Osteopathic Medicine. The $326,000 for the Voinovich School makes up 12 percent of the school’s total budget.
“When there is a zeroing out of a line (item) like that … what the university has to do is determine how best to continue to support that particular program or college as part of the state funding the university receives in total,” said Becky Watts, McDavis’ chief of staff.
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