Realities of the University’s budget crisis were evident Friday in the faces of the members of the Board of Supervisors during their meeting. The Board looked over the preliminary fall 2010 enrollment numbers in comparison to last year’s, and several campuses already show increased numbers. The fall enrollment numbers will be final on the 14th day of class in the fall semester, but the University already has more than 2,000 more applications than last year. LSU Law Center Dean Jack Weiss reported the school’s numbers are up 17 percent.”It’s a result of positive buzz,” Weiss said. “We have invested a lot more money in financial aid.”Stacy Haynie, vice provost for academic affairs, said students applying to the University have 30 percent better ACT scores than in previous years. Those are students with an ACT composite score from 28 to 36. “We’re excited we’ve had that many students with those kind of qualifications,” Haynie said. But with those better students with good qualifications, there comes a heavier price for the University. The Board of Supervisors gave the University approval in October 2009 to implement a pilot for the Scholarship and Financial Aid Management Program. The University has experienced a significant increase since then in students meeting the requirements for financial aid. The University requested an increase from $39 million to $51 million from the Board of Supervisors to accommodate the demand. An email from Eric Monday, interim vice chancellor for finance and administrative services, said the University is “experiencing a significant and material increase in fiscal year 2011 student applications and demand for scholarships and other exemptions that require the University to adjust the project total unrestricted expenditures.” Haynie said the increase is to maintain a commitment to accessibility to financial aid for students. LSU System President John Lombardi presented the higher education operating budget funding model for fiscal year 2011-12. Lombardi said even significant tuition increases wouldn’t solve the budget crisis. He said even if the University raised tuition 15 percent for three years, it wouldn’t buy back the state budget deduction. Lombardi said he believes they will be required to provide a solution in the next year. “There is no relief in sight,” Lombardi said. “No one in the legislature can see a solution. Many are sympathetic, but no one can find a solution.”Bob Keaton, LSU System special assistant, presented a legislative update on several House and Senate bills which would affect higher education. The LA Grad Act, HB 1711 by Speaker Jim Tucker, passed the House floor and is now awaiting passage from the Senate. The bill would grant higher education the authority to raise tuition by 10 percent annually after meeting 15 performance criteria. Keaton updated the Board on several other bills which would give universities more power in raising tuition and provide the Board of Regents with different powers. House Bill 1492, also by Tucker, wouldn’t change the structure of the Board of Regents, but instead give it the ability to gain ultimate power over policy and management of higher education by the adoption of the rules that it deems “necessary and appropriate” to govern all of higher education. The Board also approved the contracts for two new co-head swimming and diving coaches, Douglas Shaffer and David Geyer. They also approved a proposal to move the student section at basketball games to behind the goal post. The Board approved changing the name of the Manship School of Mass Communication to the Manship College of Mass Communication, the School of the Coast and Environment to the College of Coast and Environment and the School of Veterinary Medicine to the College of Veterinary Medicine.
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Contact Catherine Threlkeld at [email protected]