VCU leadership presents budget recommendations to BOV
University senior leadership today presented budget recommendations for the coming fiscal year to the VCU Board of Visitors at its annual budget workshop. Final decisions on the budget, tuition and fees will be made at the board’s May 8 meeting.
Presented here is a summary of the recommendations. The proposed 2015-16 budget reflects our highest priorities, developed after incorporating input from many of you during the past several months as we focused on the next phase of VCU’s Quest for Distinction strategic plan. The recommendations also reflect the realities of increasing competitive and fiscal challenges and the need to face them head-on as we move forward with Quest’s ultimate goal – academic quality and the success of all of our students.
Compensation
One of the highest funding priorities under Quest is the retention and recruitment of talented and diverse faculty. Teaching and research (T & R) faculty members are central to the mission and our achievements as a top urban, public research university. While all members of our team, including staff and administrative and professional faculty, will be eligible to receive well-deserved salary increases, the pool of funding for T & R faculty will be augmented further.
VCU is at a competitive disadvantage right now with the lowest annual salary growth among our Quest peers and our Virginia Tier 3 peers – the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech and the College of William and Mary.
In addition to the 2 percent salary increase included in the state budget, the General Assembly authorized universities to provide up to 2.5 percent in additional compensation to T & R faculty through the reallocation of existing budget. The VCU administration has recommended to the board that we do exactly that – add 2.5 percent in reallocated funds to the state’s 2 percent salary increase to create a 4.5 percent, performance-based pool to be used to increase T & R faculty compensation.
Under the budget recommendations, a 2 percent performance-based pool will be created for the administrative and professional faculty salary increase. Eligible classified staff will receive a 2 percent salary increase, some with additional salary compression compensation, per state requirements. While both of these increases are directed by the state, only a portion of the funds are provided by the state.
Resourcing Quest
As we consider how to provide resources to execute Quest, as noted above, the state requires a significant match of VCU funds to the appropriation for needed salary increases. The state also does not allow much discretion in how its appropriation can be spent. This year’s state funds are largely designated for specific purposes, such as financial aid, maintenance reserve and the Massey Cancer Center.
To move forward with Quest, we have looked at all sources of funding. We are committed to reallocating to support our priorities. However, it is clear that we also must generate additional revenues.
We are always mindful of the significant cost of higher education and the debt burden our students carry. The per-credit tuition model has been successful in encouraging students to graduate in four years, saving them thousands in overall expense and debt.
We also are mindful of the quality of education our students deserve and the highest priority funding requests are related to student success:
There also is enterprise-level investment necessary to support all of Quest:
Toward this end, senior leadership has proposed two options for a modest increase in tuition and mandatory fees for in-state undergraduates for the 2015-16 academic year: 2.77 percent ($344) or 3.02 percent ($374). For students living on-campus, the tuition, mandatory fees, room and board increase options under consideration are 2.82 percent ($612) or 3.09 percent ($670). Additional revenues generated by the second option would be targeted to fund deferred maintenance.
These budget recommendations reflect sensitivity to the cost of higher education at a major public research institution and our responsibility to provide a high-quality education – a strong return on students’ significant investment.
Next steps
Senior leadership will use input from the Board of Visitors to create a final budget plan, which will be considered for a vote at its May 8 meeting. Download the full budget presentation discussed at today’s workshop.
As we put the final plan together, our overriding goal as put forth in Quest is to increase the quality of teaching and learning, increase high impact research and increase diversity at all levels as a national leader among urban, public research universities. We are proud to be an accessible urban public research university that brings real benefit to the people of Virginia.
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