When the Ohio University Board of Trustees meets today and Friday, they will have to tackle the uncertainty regarding the 6 percent tuition caps adopted earlier this month by Governor Bob Taft and the Ohio General Assembly.
The caps were set at 6 percent for all 13 of Ohio’s public universities, but there is the potential for an extra 3.9 percent increase for need-based financial aid and technology improvements. If passed, it could bring the increase in tuition next fall to 9.9 percent.
OU President Robert Glidden wrote in an e-mail that while the General Assembly gave as much flexibility as it could, it would still put limits on next year's budget.
Glidden said that the additional 3.9 percent raise, which he will recommend to the board at 9:30 a.m. Friday, is essential to the university.
"The (financial aid and technology improvements) raises are a serious need," Glidden said. "They are needs that we have been asking the state for and haven't had any help."
OU spokeswoman Leesa Brown said that the uncertainty surrounding the budget would continue as the university tries to work with the General Assembly.
"Committees are still working on all the numbers," Brown said. "There is shifting going on in the (General) Assembly, and the most recent numbers that have come out have been the best for us so far. However, until all of the university recommendations have been made there are no final numbers."
Glidden said while he would have preferred to receive extra money from the state instead of raising tuition, he hopes that the extra 3.9 percent will give the budget extra flexibility.
Along with deliberation over the increase in tuition, the initial meeting of the trustees will include approval for the hiring of a consultant for the Elson Hall classroom addition project on the Zanesville campus, and an award for the construction contract for Bicentennial Park.
The meetings also will feature the election for six national trustee members.
OU administrators have created a Web site on the university's home page (http://www.ohiou.edu/budget) designated for addressing concerns with tuition increase. The page gives updates on the financial situation as often as possible while Board of Trustees tries to create a final budget for Fall Quarter. It also includes a letter from Glidden to OU students addressing budget concerns.
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Mike Cottrill
