Reduction in possible student fee increase

Update 11/5/09

Originally the state Board of Regents was going to consider raising the current student fee from $100 to $250, but in a compromise with the system office, the Board will deliberate increasing the fee by only $100, according to Susan
Allen, GCSU’s chief budget officer and director of payroll services.

The Board will review the current fiscal situation of the state and universities during their Nov. 17 and 18 sessions in Atlanta to decide if instituting this fee is necessary.

For more updates and current information on this topic check www.GCSUnade.com, befriend The Colonnade on Facebook or follow The Colonnade’s Twitter @GCSUnade.

end update

A University System of Georgia-wide budget cut increase from 6 to 8 percent will result in eliminating many positions that are currently frozen. An additional $150 mandatory emergency fee may be added to the existing fee, totaling at $250 per student for Spring 2010 semester, according to President Leland.

The Board of Regents will meet Nov. 17 and 18 to decide whether imposing this temporary fee at the state level is necessary.

The total budget cut from GCSU will rise to 20 percent, or $700,000, over the past year by 2010.

HOPE scholarship recipients would not be exempt from the fee and a needs-based exemption has not been established.

“We can expect the same policies for this fee that are already intact (for other fees).” Leland said.

Both the state of Georgia and GCSU composed plans for 4, 6 and 8 percent cuts earlier this semester. Universities devised their plans to mesh with the state level’s requirements. Furlough days were instituted at the state level earlier this year, requiring all of the USG to impose them.

“Furlough days are temporary,” Leland said. “So next year we’ll have to find a different way to cut the budget.”

This move to the 8 percent cut, however, will not increase the amount of furlough days this fiscal year.

Along with cutting non-instructional frozen positions, the school’s pre-existing 8 percent budget cut plan includes dipping into excess tuition revenue.

The university budget is created conservatively to account for unseen expenses. Delving into this portion of the budget will not directly impact any department, but it leaves less of a cushion for the University to fall back on, should anything unexpected occur.

All of the frozen positions being discontinued should not affect students’ class time directly.

“We want to do everything not to harm instruction, ” Leland said.

A sharp rise in applications for federal financial aid has signified students and families are going through rough times, according to Leland.

“We’ll have to figure out some new creative ways to do what we do best here (at GCSU),” Leland said.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Oct 30 2009. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry