|
|
Columns::February 3, 2003
Good works: 2003 Hill Award recipients announced
Symposium explores benefits of diversity in higher education
Taste of home cooking
University Council will consider six new degrees and institute in engineering
University holds its first Nonprofit Expo
NSF grant will support teaching of science food in public schools
Researchers identify first active DNA transposons in rice genomes
Prof gets ‘leading’ role with students
Update: Private Giving
Newsmakers
Professor discusses legal ramifications of the USA Patriot Act
Birthday lecture
Campus News
State budget woes: no raises likely, some positive news
By Tom Jackson
tjackson@uga.edu
Even in these tight budget times, Gov. Sonny Perdue’s budget plan includes items important to the University of Georgia and the University System, but for the first time in a decade, faculty and staff face a year with no pay increase.
“For tough times, this is a good budget for the University of Georgia,” says President Michael F. Adams.
The fiscal year 2003 amended budget proposal includes the final $8.6 million in state funding for the Paul D. Coverdell Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences, which with the $1.4 million in planning funds provided last year completes the state’s $10 million portion of the $40 million facility. Another $10 million comes from federal funds, with $20 million to be paid through extramural grants and contracts attracted by the building’s occupants.
The fiscal year 2003 amended budget proposal restores $25 million of the major repair and rehabilitation funds cut from the University System last year and provides $4 million to offset health insurance costs systemwide. Lottery funding for equipment technology and trust funds is set at $12 million for the system, a reduction from previous years as the governor begins to shift lottery funds more exclusively toward supporting the HOPE Scholarship program.
The plan also provides $15 million to the Georgia State Financing and Investment Commission toward completion of the university’s Animal Health Research Center and to correct problems still in litigation with the contractor for the as-yet unoccupied facility. The College of Veterinary Medicine is applying to the National Institutes of Health for additional AHRC construction funding.
The fiscal year 2004 original budget recommends that $81.5 million in enrollment growth funds be appropriated to the University System under the formula, of which $14.1 million was generated by UGA. In addition, the university will apply to the regents for strategic initiative funding for faculty positions to address access problems in high-demand majors, for additional graduate assistant positions, and to meet growth demands at the Gwinnett Center.
Only one major capital construction project on the regents’ priority list is proposed for funding in the coming year--an addition to the Georgia Southern University library. The next phase of UGA’s Performing and Visual Arts Center, a new facility for the Lamar Dodd School of Art that will climb to fourth on the regents’ list, is provided $2.5 million in planning funds.
The state revenue shortfall continues to have an impact in the fiscal year 2004 budget. The proposal would provide $32 million from bonds for major repair and rehabilitation systemwide--$22 million less than in fiscal year 2002.
As expected, the $27.7 million previously provided to the University System for formula losses due to semester conversion is being removed, and budget reductions absorbed by the system in fiscal year 2003 are being carried into fiscal year 2004. Respectively, these reductions are $4.2 million and $15.5 million to UGA. The budget plan also does not contain funding for UGA’s portion of health and life insurance plan premiums and retirement plan increases.
“It remains incumbent on all of us to manage as efficiently as possible to maintain service to our students and to protect jobs as we move through our state’s economic downturn,” Adams says. “All in all, we’ve done pretty well on the capital budget side, but we have a number of major challenges in the operating budget. With everyone’s help, I’m sure we can see this through.”
|
|
|
|
|
