2008 Woodie Awards
MU works to manage expenses
Catherine Couretas
Issue date: 11/18/08 Section: Front Page
Final decisions on budget cuts are still up in the air, Miami University Provost Jeffrey Herbst said at Monday's university senate meeting.
At the meeting, Jeanne Hey, chair of the fiscal priorities and budget planning committee, presented information on Miami's financial situation.
"We were in the hole last year and we're going to be in the hole this year," Hey said. "We don't have the buffer to cover overspending elsewhere."
According to Hey, personnel costs make up 82 percent of Miami's expenditure.
"Almost all of our money goes to human resources," Hey said.
She added that the amount of money spent in other areas can be hard for the university to predict, including the university's heating bill.
"It's hard to plan for what our energy is going to cost," Hey said. "We don't know how cold it's going to be and how much it's going to cost."
Another varying expense of the university, Hey said, is benefits, "One year of more sick people (and) more surgeries can cost a lot," Hey said. "We don't know what to expect each year."
Hey said that overtime hours have been reduced for classified staff, and that the university is aggressively addressing utility costs, including a new contract with Duke Energy. Hey also said there have been no increases in non-personnel budgets for three years.
When it comes to the university's income, state support makes up a mere 13 percent, compared with closer to 50 percent 40 or 50 years ago, according to Hey.
Instead, Hey said tuition has the largest impact, making up 59 percent of income.
The amount of money the university receives through tuition, however, depends on enrollment-something that is capped by the sophomore residency requirement, which began with this year's first-year class.
"We have to be very careful about how many students we admit for the fall of '09," Herbst said. "The (sophomore housing) requirement increases retention and we were at 100 percent capacity this year. We haven't added any beds."
Hey said enrollment is crucial, though, when it comes to Miami's revenue.
"One-hundred students bring in $1.4 million," Hey said.
She also added that a 1 percent increase in the out-of-state tuition would bring in $1.95 million in revenue.
Hey said that revenue from in-state tuition, however, has been capped to a point due to the tuition freeze mandated by all public colleges in Ohio for the past two years. In response, Hey said state aid is expected to increase.
"The state subsidy is scheduled to increase 9 percent during this fiscal year to partially offset the tuition freeze," Hey said.
Hey added that the state could take back some of that 9 percent in the spring.
At the meeting, Jeanne Hey, chair of the fiscal priorities and budget planning committee, presented information on Miami's financial situation.
"We were in the hole last year and we're going to be in the hole this year," Hey said. "We don't have the buffer to cover overspending elsewhere."
According to Hey, personnel costs make up 82 percent of Miami's expenditure.
"Almost all of our money goes to human resources," Hey said.
She added that the amount of money spent in other areas can be hard for the university to predict, including the university's heating bill.
"It's hard to plan for what our energy is going to cost," Hey said. "We don't know how cold it's going to be and how much it's going to cost."
Another varying expense of the university, Hey said, is benefits, "One year of more sick people (and) more surgeries can cost a lot," Hey said. "We don't know what to expect each year."
Hey said that overtime hours have been reduced for classified staff, and that the university is aggressively addressing utility costs, including a new contract with Duke Energy. Hey also said there have been no increases in non-personnel budgets for three years.
When it comes to the university's income, state support makes up a mere 13 percent, compared with closer to 50 percent 40 or 50 years ago, according to Hey.
Instead, Hey said tuition has the largest impact, making up 59 percent of income.
The amount of money the university receives through tuition, however, depends on enrollment-something that is capped by the sophomore residency requirement, which began with this year's first-year class.
"We have to be very careful about how many students we admit for the fall of '09," Herbst said. "The (sophomore housing) requirement increases retention and we were at 100 percent capacity this year. We haven't added any beds."
Hey said enrollment is crucial, though, when it comes to Miami's revenue.
"One-hundred students bring in $1.4 million," Hey said.
She also added that a 1 percent increase in the out-of-state tuition would bring in $1.95 million in revenue.
Hey said that revenue from in-state tuition, however, has been capped to a point due to the tuition freeze mandated by all public colleges in Ohio for the past two years. In response, Hey said state aid is expected to increase.
"The state subsidy is scheduled to increase 9 percent during this fiscal year to partially offset the tuition freeze," Hey said.
Hey added that the state could take back some of that 9 percent in the spring.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Roland
posted 11/18/08 @ 7:06 AM EST
So, 82% Miami's costs were on personel, not faculty as Herbst said last week. Nice to see someone telling the truth around here....
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