September 24, 2013
Institutional Priorities Committee
Minutes of September 24, 2013
3:00pm - 5:00pm
DeRosa Center Room 211
Present: Arnold, Atterbury, Cavanaugh, Cayton, Day, Eibeck, Fox, Gale, Kleinert, Lackey, Luu, Martin, Meyer (Chair), Murta, Pallavicini, Pappas, Perrot, Rogers, Shaw, Staniec
Absent: Leland, Lyon
Guests: Carrie Darnall, John Jones, Lou Matz
Call to Order: 3:00pm
Minutes:
Minutes for the September 10, 2013 meeting were approved.
John Jones was introduced to the committee. Jones will serve as interim Chief Information Officer while the University begins a national search for a new CIO.
Budget update for FY14-FY15
Perrot shared budget materials for FY 13 end of year and FY 14 revised (as contained in Board of Regents book for its October meeting). Included in the presentation was unrestricted fund information regarding enrollment, net tuition, expense, and tuition and financial aid. Preliminary FY 15 budget assumptions are currently confidential.
Course fees
Pallavicini presented information on course fees. Concern has been voiced over the number and amount of course fees. Besides tuition, there are several other fee categories that are applied to students which include general fees, special fees, and course or activity fees. Course fees can serve several purposes, for example, fees can help fund mandated state requirements such as the TB test or departments can use accumulated fees to purchase replacements for laboratory equipment.
An average of course fee related income and expense for FY11-13 was shared. If course fees are to be discontinued departments may need supplemental funds. An estimate of supplemental funds was calculated. It was clarified that the current estimate of supplemental funds needed may not necessarily capture the actual needs of a department in a given year.
Recommendation options
- Rolling fees into base tuition
- Discontinuing
- Continuing and recalibrating as appropriate
- Create funds to supplement instructional costs previously funded by courses fees
- Course fees are justified that directly benefit the fee paying student
Next steps
- Establish course materials fee committee to review and make recommendations on fee proposals
- Develop and approve course materials fee policy
- Determine tuition increase needed to cover general and special fees, and to supplement other instructional costs previously funded by course fees
- Determine whether an undergraduate policy should be different from the graduate and professional policy
If changes for FY 15 are to be implemented a decision will need to be made by the March 2014 registration period.
Future Agenda Items
- Tuition remission policy (October 8)
- Responsibility Center Management/Budget Task Force update (October 22 depending on Dean Opphenheimer's availability)
- Update on course fees (January)
- IT budget needs (March)
- Tuition recommendation
- Equity salary increases
- McGeorge School of Law
Adjourned: 4:42pm