It’s easy to calculate the amount of money one student will spend on tuition, books and fees at the University of Utah. However, it is extremely difficulty to figure out how much it costs to educate 26,000 students.
Electricity, libraries, maintenance of grounds and buildings, faculty salaries and special projects all cost money. Students pay a portion of the costs through tuition and fees, but the U remains largely dependent on state funds to operate.
Each year, Utah’s colleges and universities list their priorities. U administrators have created a starting place?their list of the U’s needs for the 2002-2003 fiscal year.
“Everyone knows it is going to be an extremely tight year for the state,” Fred Esplin said, vice president for university relations.
Higher education won big last year in the legislative session. The state Legislature granted more money than in any previous year. That year, now nearly half over, is not the year educators thought it would be.
A tax revenue shortfall forced Gov. Mike Leavitt to cut 2.5 percent ($15 million) of higher education’s budget for this year.
“We know we did not get what we thought we got,” said Nancy Lyon, assistant vice president for government affairs.
Now, everyone involved is asking for that money back.
The U’s priority list joins the state Board of Regents and Utah Student Association in ranking restoration of this money as the top priority for next year.
The shortfall created a huge problem because enrollment at state institutions is at a record high.
More than 1,500 new students enrolled at the U this semester. Deans and departments now have the responsibility of educating more students with less funding than they planned on having.
This concern led U administrators to list?as a high priority?full funding of this year’s enrollment growth along with last year’s unfunded enrollment growth.
One idea aimed to help legislators more completely fund enrollment and other costs is a funding formula. This idea has been tossed around between institutions, the Regents and legislators for three years.
Two months ago, the Regents abandoned the idea of pushing formula funding through the state legislators because of the status of the state’s economy.
Formula funding would create a mathematical equation?a specific number of dollars an institution can receive?based on factors like the number of new students, number of returning students, costs of services and changes in price level. From that formula, the state would then figure how much money each institution receives.
Everyone agrees a formula is needed, but no one seems to be able to agree on a specific plan.
While the Regents dropped the idea from their list of priorities, U administrators feel that a formula will “sharpen our focus” of the needs for all institutions in the state, Lyon said.
“This is a simple way to discuss the most pressing and compelling needs of any institution, including the U,” she said.
The U is also seeking funding for the School of Medicine, mandated costs (specifically energy), the Governor’s Engineering Initiative, salary equity and the Marriott Library.
The list will be discussed briefly during the monthly Regents meeting Friday.
“We are still in the process of refining the list,” Lyon said.
Esplin also said, if needed, the U would prioritize the list by numbering it.