West Virginia University’s Board of Governors reviewed budget and tuition issues at its meeting Friday, though it did not directly address Gov. Joe Manchin’s request for a tuition freeze at state colleges and universities.
Vice President for Administration and Finance Narvel Weese said after the meeting the University would take Manchin’s request made during his State of the State Address Jan. 12 very seriously.
Weese hoped the state would offer some assistance.
“We remain hopeful that whatever tuition freeze he might impose, that they might back that with some stimulus money,” Weese said. “We’re about ensuring that we have quality programs and a quality experience, and in order to do that, we have to find some way to deal with costs.”
The state recently cut funding for WVU by 3.4 percent. The University anticipates federal stimulus funding will compensate for the loss but is waiting for confirmation on funding for 2011.
WVU receives “significantly less” state appropriations than its peer institutions, Weese said, so as the University looks for revenue sources, the likelihood of receiving additional state funding is “limited.”
In the last five years to 10 years, the University has relied more on grants, contracts, tuition and fees, and less on state appropriated funding, Weese said.
Now administrators are questioning the University’s sensitivity to the market as they examine plans for future tuition and fees.
“If we raise fees beyond what is perceived as the value in the market, will that impact the number of students who actually come to the University?” Weese said. “Any tuition revenue might be offset by a loss in enrollment.”
In other business:
University President James P. Clements discussed issues with fan behavior during Wednesday’s basketball game against the University of Pittsburgh.
Clements said WVU officials met and discussed a list of 15 possibilities to discourage bad behavior during games.
“It’s being discussed, but no quick decision is being made on that,” he said. “I don’t want to penalize good students who were there to support the things ... but they’ve got to pick their game up, that behavior is not acceptable.”
The BOG approved $105,246 in matching funds for the Research Trust Fund. The trust, called the “Bucks for Brains” program, was passed in 2008 to provide state money to WVU and Marshall University for research endowments. The schools were responsible for providing matching funds within five years.
The BOG approved a $3 million funding increase for White Hall renovations, which will now house the physics department.
The project is now budgeted at $33.3 million.
shay.maunz@mail.wvu.edu
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