Possible tuition increases and adding new faculty and programs were discussed at the Colorado State University budget hearings for the 2018 Fiscal Year on Jan 25.

Draft Budget for 2018 Fiscal Year

Provost Rick Miranda stated that the Board Of Governors, Joint Budget Committee and Governor’s Office are most interested in the resident undergraduate tuition to determine what the percent increase will be for tuition. According to Miranda, the budget analyst for the Joint Budget Committee determined that if CSU did not receive state funding, the university would need to stay within a 7 percent increase of tuition. Miranda noted that the analyst, however, now proposed only a 3 percent increase in tuition.

Miranda discussed the Western Undergraduate Exchange program that most non-resident students use to pay for tuition. Miranda noted that WUE offered more money than CSU’s merit-based award programs this past year. For next year, however, Miranda said WUE would be less rewarding than the best of the merit-based non-resident scholarships, and the programs are now similar. If WUE was removed, those students would then be eligible for merit-based scholarships already in place. Miranda added that CSU would still be giving merit-based scholarships in order for non-resident students to attend CSU.

Council of Deans

The Council of Deans accepted proposals from specialized colleges for new programs and faculty members. The College of Liberal Arts requested to add a faculty member to advise the Center for Public Deliberation to assist Martin Carcasson. The English department requested a non-tenure track faculty member to take a position as an associate director in the composition program.

The Anthropology department proposed two new degree departments for a doctorate in anthropology and a bachelor’s degree in geography. Miranda said it is more likely the bachelor’s degree in geography will yield a positive return on the investment, but CSU will have to invest resources to create a Ph.D. program in anthropology.

The College of Natural Resources proposed to hire two tenure track faculty to address cross-cultural issues in Natural Resources. Miranda said natural resource programs are less diverse than they need to be, both in the students and in the faculty. Miranda said the natural resource programs are not attracting a diverse set of students to the professions and curriculum.

Proposals

The Women and Gender Collaborative proposal is a presidential initiative that started in 2016 to improve campus culture around gender. The initiative plans to make CSU the best place possible for women and increase opportunities of education and engagement. The initiative receives a grant from First National Bank and an anonymous donor. The proposal is asking a total of $51,516 .

The public safety committee created a proposal to create a new dispatcher position and new police officer positions. Most universities have 500-700 students per police officer. At CSU, there are about 1,000 students per police officer. They are looking to hire and train five new officers, get a lease for another vehicle and hire another dispatcher. This proposal is asking for $531,612, including money for a new vehicle and yearly salaries for the new position openings.

The Registrar’s Office requested equity adjustments to improve retention rates with their employees. Employees specialize in technical software for websites such as RamWeb and FamWeb. Employee training has made it difficult to replace employees since it is specialized and requires specific knowledge. The proposal asked for $25,600 for employees. An additional $10,000 is being asked for training Registrar’s Office and Financial Aid Office employees.

SLiCE’s President’s Leadership Program asked for $38,400 to expand the program. The program had 29 students, and now numbers exceed 150 students. The PLP trains students in leadership values and potential and is designed around values, leadership and diversity. The money for this proposal compensates for the teachers in the program and expands the program.

Information Technology, Facilities and University Operations asked for a new time management tool that would assist the University and campus with tracking and managing time, which would cost $165,000. Another proposal integrated the final phase of a fire alarm system across campus, costing $126,910.

A proposal was offered to support a small business liaison program by the university. Currently, CSU has no such program, meaning it is not in compliance with the United State Small Business Administration’s Small Business Program, which could result in major repercussions. Funding for this proposal would start at $111,542 to pay for one employee, one assistant and a subscription cost to a business classification database.

A Risk Management and Insurance committee proposed to create a one-time payment to replace the batteries of defibrillators on campus. Replacing them would prevent a situation where a defibrillator is needed but unable to be used. Another proposal from Risk Management and Insurance is someone to handle situations of University employees being injured on the job, to both treat them and prevent it from ever happening. This would require one fully-salaried employee, costing $81,800.