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Utah State U.: Board of Trustees praises Utah State U. President Albrecht’s budget decisions(U-Wire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) UWIRE-03/16/2009-Utah State U.: Board of Trustees praises Utah State U. President Albrecht's budget decisions (C) 2008 The Utah Statesman via UWIRE By Rachel A. Christensen, The Utah Statesman (Utah State U.) LOGAN, Utah -- Richard C. Shipley, Board of Trustees member, praised Utah State University President Stan Albrecht for actions taken to reduce the effects of this year's budget cuts on university programs during a Trustees meeting March 6. Other schools have been interested in the success of Albrecht's mandated furlough plan, and Shipley said he is pleased at how USU faculty worked together to create a university family during this financial crisis. Albrecht said money saved due to the furlough compensates for more than half of the $5.56 million budget cut imposed January. He said the school experienced two rounds of budget cuts during the 2009 fiscal year. The first involved a 4 percent one-time cut and another 4 percent ongoing cut. The second cut implemented in January involved another 7.3 percent, and the furlough was created to lessen this cut's impact. "We have put the fiscal budget for 2009 to bed," Albrecht said. "We hope the economy will turn. We remain hopeful." John DeVilbiss, USU spokesman, said 20 university faculty have been recently layed off due to the first round of budget cuts. He said the process of deciding which employees the university could handle letting go took eight weeks. These layoffs are the result of budget cuts given in the fall, he said, and although they were announced a week before the mandated furlough, the two events are not related. At least until July, DeVilbiss said there will be no more faculty layoffs. "Now 2010, that's a whole different discussion," he said. Depending on how the school reacts to next year's budget cuts, the university could expect a combination of furloughs, program cuts, layoffs and tuition increases. However, DeVilbiss said the university is doing all it can to ensure students don't have to pay for the budget cuts. During the meeting March 6, the Board unanimously voted to support a $65 fee increase for athletcs, assuming the referendum passes a student vote. Students can log on the ASUSU Web site March 23 and 24 to vote for or against the fee increase. Scott Barnes, athletics director, said, "We're at an absolute tipping point in our budget, and we need to make changes." Jeremy Winn, ASUSU athletics vice president, said Utah State's athletic department enriches the quality of student life, unifies Cache Valley and enhances the value of degrees from USU through name recognition. Of the Spectrum's seats, 40 percent are reserved for students, Winn said, as well as 25 percent of the football stadium's seats. These seats are free to students. Winn said this adds up to $730 to $1,520 in student benefits. That totals $3,880,720 in men's football and basketball ticket benefits for the student body per year, and he said the $65 fee increase is necessary if students want to continue to receive free admission to athletic events. Information provided by athletics during the meeting showed Utah State students already pay $113 in fees toward athletics, totaling the amount from student fees to $1,670,000 annually. University of Utah students pay a $117 fee for their athletic programs making their total student fees colected recorded at $3,800,00; however, their athletics department is asking for a 7 percent fee increase. The school reserves 15 percent of their football stadium seats for students and 27 percent of the basketball arena. USU athletics has the smallest budget in the Western Athletics Conference, Barnes said. He said the athletic department has three main sources of revenue which consist of institutional support, student fees and self-generated revenue like ticket sales. He said the proposed fee increase is necessary to keep USU athletes playing Division 1A. Michelle Larson, assistant provost, presented a motion during the meeting to change the name of the department of nutrition and food sciences to include dietetics in the title. The change would better reflect the students of the department, she said, 300 of which are dietetic majors. BYU is the only other university in Utah with dietetics in their department title, she said. The motion was passed unanimously. [email protected] GB ##30## ((Distributed on bahalf of U-Wire via M2 Communications Ltd - http://www.m2.com)) ((U-Wire - http://www.uwire.com)) Copyright ? 2009 U-Wire |