The State System of Higher Education’s Board of Governors yesterday affirmed its commitment to developing a plan to redesign the System, focusing on three priorities: ensuring student success, leveraging the strengths of each university, and transforming the System’s leadership and governance structure. Those were three key recommendations of a year-long study of the System’s operations by the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems.
The Board of Governors also approved its appropriations request for the next academic year, asking for a $73.1 million increase, to $526.2 million. To put that into perspective, the State System has received increases the last three years totaling $40 million, which it says have only brought its appropriation to essentially the same amount it received in 2001-02. Annual pension obligations have more than doubled since 2010. It’s projected to level off at about $150 million next year, and healthcare expenses will be about the same, but salaries and benefits are expected to increase by nearly $50 million, bringing the total operating budget to about $1.73 billion.
The System says that if it gets the $73.1 million increase, it won’t have to increase tuition next year.
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