Indiana State University board OKs 1.94% tuition increases and 2017-18 budget

Tuition will increase 1.94 percent for 2017-18, or $85 per semester for a full-time, resident undergraduate student; that translates to $8,716 in tuition for the academic year, plus a $200 mandatory fee for the Student Recreation Center.

The goal of trustees “was to make sure we were maintaining increases within the rate of inflation,” said Diann McKee, senior vice president for finance.

Trustee Jeff Taylor, who chairs the trustees’ finance committee, described the increase as “modest and reasonable.”

It’s estimated the tuition increase will generate an additional $2 million in revenue toward next year’s budget. 

In other action, trustees approved a $189.3 million balanced general fund budget for 2017-18, about a $3.5 million increase over 2016-17. 

About $65.1 million is from the state operating appropriation, with $105 million from student tuition. Tuition now accounts for 55.7 percent of projected revenue for the budget, while state appropriations make up about 34.4 percent. Over the past decade, the university has become more dependent on tuition revenue and less on the state appropriation, McKee told trustees during a finance committee meeting. 

“It is critical” that the university continue to meet enrollment targets and grow student numbers, she said. The university is keeping tuition increases minimal so it remains affordable, but “unless you have enrollment growth, there isn’t going to be a lot of growth in tuition, and we’ve become very dependent on it.”

Meanwhile, the trend of declining state operating appropriations continues, with a $774,754 reduction for next year because of performance-based funding metrics. A net decrease in state appropriations of $355,000 occurs over the 2017-2019 biennium.

The 2017-18 operating budget includes a projected 1.25 percent increased pool for salary adjustments, with criteria to be determined once fall enrollment is known.

The budget includes a 1.25 percent increase in student wages; a 2 percent increase in student scholarships and a 6.3 percent increase for health insurance. The budget also includes a reserve of 3 percent of the prior year’s budget, or $5.3 million.

The university made reallocations, or reductions, of more than $1 million to pay for increased compensation and other priorities. Much of the reductions came from vacant positions and salary/benefit savings.

The budget also includes an additional state appropriation of $2.3 million dedicated to student success initiatives.

In summary, McKee said, the budget “maintains affordability for our students and we have a budgeted reserve to offset any contingencies that were not anticipated. We do have a small planned increase in compensation for faculty and staff and we are adding additional dollars for student scholarships. It does contain over $1 million of reallocations and reductions throughout our budget.”

President’s departure

In other business, the board approved the position profile for national advertising and recruiting candidates for the next university president. The profile was developed by the Presidential Search Committee and incorporates feedback from a stakeholders’ survey and campus-wide listening sessions.

Candidates are being encouraged to submit applications to the search firm assisting the university by August 30.

After nearly a decade leading Indiana State, Bradley announced on April 26 his plans to step down as the university’s 11th president, effective January 2018.

Trustees also approved a “post presidency letter of agreement” with Bradley. After he steps down in January 2018, he will begin a one-year paid leave at 116 percent of his then current salary.

Upon completion of the paid leave, and for the next four years, he will remain an active faculty member and be compensated as outlined in his employment agreement, or at 77 percent of his base salary. “We expect to be Terre Haute residents,” Bradley said after the meeting.

During the four years, he will work half-time, with one-half the workload and responsibilities of a fully tenured professor.

Twenty percent of his time will be devoted to university development and advancement, and 80 percent of his time will be devoted to academic affairs. He will be given office space and a supply/expense budget of $25,000 per year.

“I’m going to be doing whatever the provost and the president tell me to do,” Bradley said. “I expect there will be some instruction or interaction with students, and it’s my expectation there will be some development work as well.”