Proposed tuition and fees to be approved at Board of Regents meetings in May

Taylor Clinton
The Signal
The Board of Regents meetings in May will give faculty, staff and students a look into how big the changes of downward expansion will be financially and how far those attending UHCL will have to dig into their pockets in the upcoming academic year.

The University of Houston Board of Regents is the governing body of UHCL, as well as the UH System as a whole. This means board members make executive decisions for UH, UHD, UH-Victoria, UH-Cinco Ranch, UH-Sugarland, KUHT Television and KUHF Radio.

The board will meet two times in May. May 13, the Academic and Student Success Committee, Facilities, Construction and Master Planning Committee, and the Endowment Management Committee will meet to discuss proposed items for those areas at each of the UH System schools. May 14, the Audit and Compliance Committee, and the Finance and Administration Committee will meet to further discuss how the funds in the UH System will be allocated to fit each school’s needs.

These meetings will give the final say in what the proposed tuition and fee increases will be for the next academic year and will give UHCL an indication of what to expect in the way of funding for the four-year initiative, beginning fall 2014.

Proposed Funding for Fiscal Year 2014
At the FY14 Combined Component Priorities Presentation April 17,  President William Staples described the funding for the four-year initiative as a “three-legged stool” that will be composed of three funding factors: department reserves, private fundraising and state appropriations.

“I am convinced more than ever that if we don’t make this transition we will be in a much more precarious position regarding the near term and especially in the long term funding of UH-Clear Lake,” Staples said.

Department Reserves
UHCL is planning to use $1.12 million from reserves to aid with the financial cost of downward expansion – money set aside within each department for the use of priority initiatives.

“The university swept money from departments’ reserves last year that they felt was excess money and they will sort of fund our needs from that greater pool of money for the next couple of years,” said Darlene Biggers, associate vice president of student services.

Private Fundraising
Houston Endowment has given a $1 million grant to UHCL for downward expansion.

The payments will be given in two increments of $500,000; the first was allotted to UHCL in March 2013 and the second will be granted in March 2014.

These funds will be apportioned to extend students services, including new academic advising, transition services and student services for freshman and sophomore students. Transition services are anticipated to help freshmen make the transition from high school to college, and student services is hoping to provide tutoring for lower-level math and sciences.

State Appropriations
A 20 percent funding cut by the Texas Legislature in 2011 left a $5.8 million gap in the UHCL budget.

This legislative session, UHCL is hoping to regain roughly 25 percent of that lost revenue.

“There is simply going to be a battle for funding,” Staples said. “It depends how the dominos fall.”

If awarded the state appropriation funds, UHCL has a proposed plan for a new Science and Academic Support building. The new building would provide more science labs, necessary for freshman and sophomore classes, and provide more space to expand academic support for the math and science disciplines.

“All decisions are sort of on hold right now,” said Zbigniew Czajkiewicz, dean of the School of Science and Computer Engineering. “We are planning for a lot of things and we have a lot of options, but no decisions will be made, I assume, until the legislative session is completed.”

Four-Year Initiative Affects on Tuition and Fees
In Texas, funding for public universities is primarily enrollment driven. As a result, when there is a drop in formula funding provided by the state, the educational institution often times has to increase tuition and fees to assure the needs of students are met for a quality education.

Tuition

The rate for designated undergraduate tuition is projected to be raised $9 per credit hour and $19 per credit hour for graduate students.

At this time there are no projected changes to statutory tuition, which is set by the state, or to differential designated tuition, which is decided by the school in which the student will be majoring.

“Of the 38 public institutions, with one being the highest and 38 being the lowest, we are 30 for tuition cost,” Staples said. “So we are a pretty good deal.”

Fees
The library use fee and parking fees may increase for students in FY14.

Library fees are projected to rise to $8 per credit hour with a maximum of $96 per student. For students taking more than 12 hours per semester, the fee will not be applied to additional credit hours.

“This money will hopefully do two things: it will allow for us to restore resources that we have had to cut due to state budget cuts, and it will allow us to add new ones,” said Karen Wielhorksi, executive director of the Neumann Library.

Student parking fees are anticipated to climb to $100 for an annual parking pass, $60 for a semester parking pass in the fall/spring semesters and $45 for a summer parking pass.

Adjunct parking fees are expected to increase to $50 for an annual parking pass, $30 for fall/spring parking and $25 for summer parking.

Employee parking fees are expected to increase to $100 annually and $170 for employees who have reserved lot parking.

The revenue generated by increased parking fees are being proposed by the UHCL Police Department to cover more Hawk Patrol employees in the parking lots and extended patrolling hours, maintenance and implementation of new security technologies, and mailing out parking permits.

The May 14 Board of Regents meeting and the decisions made by the Texas Legislature this session will be the ultimate deciding factor for the budget for downward expansion and the cost of tuition and fees.