Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1994 [PAGE 99]

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1994]

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

87

I recommend that this budget, covering the allocation of the estimated operating income from all sources for the year beginning July 1, 1994, be approved by the Board of Trustees; and that the president of the University be authorized, in accord with the needs of the University and the equitable interests involved, and within total income as it accrues, to make such adjustments in items included in the budget as are needed, such adjustments to be covered in periodic reports to the Board of Trustees.

On motion of Mr. Lamont, this recommendation was approved and authority was given as recommended by the following vote: Aye, Dr. Bacon, Mrs. Calder, Dr. Gindorf, Mr. Grabowski, Mrs. Gravenhorst, Mr. Lamont, Ms. Lopez, Ms. Reese; no, none; absent, Mr. Boyle, Governor Edgar. (The student advisory vote was: Aye, Mr. Didato-Castillo, Mr. Rose; no, none.)

Requests for Operating and Capital Appropriations, and Recommended Tuition Rates, Fiscal Year 1996

(4) Requests for incremental operating funds and for new capital appropriations for the University of Illinois for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 1995, are presented herewith for action by the Board of Trustees. Following board action, these requests will be submitted to the Illinois Board of Higher Education for review. The accompanying tables summarize the major elements of each request, and the document, "Fiscal Year 1996 Budget Request for Operating and Capital Funds," which was presented and discussed in September, contains detailed supporting information about each item and individual project in the requests. The FY 1996 Operating Budget Request is outlined in Table 1. It seeks $49.7 million in new funds, an increase of 6.7 percent above the current year's budget. The FY 1996 request focuses more heavily upon academic program development than have recent annual budget proposals although it remains more modest than many brought forward over the past decade. As has always been the case, the request attempts to define the most urgent funding needs confronting the University while recognizing the overall fiscal condition of the State. Additional salary funds represent the largest single component in this request, and the paramount priority for FY 1996 is to sustain salary competitiveness gains achieved this year for both faculty and staff. To improve the timeliness and predictability of tuition decisions, the budget request sets tuition rates for FY 1996. Consistent with tuition principles discussed by the board last year, a general tuition increase of 3.5 percent is recommended for all students. To help simplify the tuition rate structure, the final phase-out of the current differential between lower and upper division rates is recommended, with all revenue directed to undergraduate academic program improvements, particularly for firstyear students. Continuation of tuition advances approved last year is recommended for professional school programs in medicine, dentistry, and the MBA programs, to provide revenue for academic program improvements. All proposed tuition actions are outlined in Table 2. Table 3 identifies the ten projects in the FY 1996 Capital Budget Request in priority order. Together, these projects represent an investment of $94.4 million, devoted primarily to preserving and extending facilities already in place at the campuses. Site improvements and remodeling projects comprise a large part of the total funds requested, with the highest priority given to repair and renovation projects at both campuses. Funds are also sought to match private gifts now in hand to construct a new agriculture library and information center at Urbana-Champaign. The University's operating and capital requests for FY 1996 have been prepared