Funding for public higher education in Colorado is a bit like the state's terrain -- uneven.
Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak and Susan Szpyrka, vice chancellor, Administration and Finance, traced the sources and uses of the campus budget and looked ahead to fiscal years 2016 and 2017 before a room full of faculty and staff in the University Center Theater Jan. 29. They celebrated investments that have brought more than 100 new positions to the campus, mostly in faculty lines, and provided a cautiously optimistic view of the future.
"The take away here is that we are stable and we are making investments," Shockley-Zalabak said. "But there is still going to be some turbulence."
That unsettled future includes SB-1319 which develops a new funding formula for higher education and proposes increases in state funding. For UCCS, the formula, as currently written, may mean an increase in state funds for FY 2016. However, some projections show decrease in state funds for FY 2017. Shockley-Zalabak shared her reluctance to increase department budgets one year only to cut them the next. Department budgets will increase for FY 2016, she said, but not with the projected amounts of one-time funds.
Further complicating efforts to plan ahead is that the new funding formula, which is supported by CU's leadership, may be changed by the General Assembly this session. Additionally, other variables including levels of state support, tuition rate increases, employee benefit costs, operating expenses such as utilities, and enrollment growth are unknown.
"We don't have as much detailed information for you as we would prefer," Szpyrka said. "Everything is very fluid -- we've had three different options for increases in state support in Fiscal Year 2016. The Chancellor mentioned that there is an increase in FY 16 but then there's a projected decrease in FY 17. We've had three different numbers on what that decrease might be as well. That's creating a lot of different budget models."
The 2016 budget picture will be clarified following Feb. 19 and 20 meetings of the CU Board of Regents. At those meetings, UCCS will take forward its request for a modest tuition increase as well as projections for enrollment growth. A final budget is expected in June.
While many budget variables are outside of the control of faculty and staff members, Shockley-Zalabak encouraged renewed focus on retaining students and helping them on the path toward graduation while maintaining high academic standards. Retention and graduation rates are part of new funding models and are where the university should put its emphasis.
"We're going to have to work hard," Shockley Zalabak said. "Right now, we've got too much pressure on recruitment. We have to help people succeed while maintaining high standards."
-- Photos by Philip Denman
Leave a Reply