2008 Woodie Awards
ISU fee increase in the works
Officials say student fees could rise seven percent next year
Stephanie Hall
Issue date: 3/19/08 Section: News
The proposal for student fees for the 2008-2009 academic year was finalized last week, but the overall ISU budget for next school year is still far from completed. Overall, the proposed student fees and tuition will increase by seven percent for full-time students (from $2,200 to $2,345).
The student fee proposal calls for increases to all parties who are funded with student fees, except for scholarships and ASISU activities. The State Board of Education must vote on the proposal before it is finalized.
Student fees, however, are not the only factor that will determine how much money each party or department at ISU will receive. The State of Idaho also supplies ISU with a large portion of its funding. The state legislature will hold their budget hearings in April.
Due to low enrollment at ISU and national economic deficits, there have been some concerns of budget cuts for the coming year.
"It is very premature at this point to be talking about budget cuts because the process is still going on," said Jim Fletcher, Vice President of Finance and Administration at ISU.
"If people are talking about budget decreases, to the same degree they could be talking about budget increases."
Fletcher said that budget cuts have been predicted because of the poor state of the national economy, but ISU is prepared for either a budget increase or a budget decrease.
"We asked people to run alternative cases on this budget process," Fletcher said. "The reason we did this is very clear. We know that this is going to be a difficult year in Boise, and we know that's it's a difficult year economically across the country. I know this has got to have some influence in the thinking of our (state) legislators."
Fletcher said that chairs of each department were asked to make proposals that explained how they would react to a budget increase or a budget decrease in their department.
"In the event that we are less successful than we hope, we want to already have our alternative plans in place," Fletcher said. "Therefore we asked all of the academic departments as well as all the administrative departments to do a set of budget scenarios that said what would they do in the event that we have a five percent reduction in appropriated funds, but we also asked them at the same time to tell us what would they do in the event that they had a three percent increase in appropriated funds."
Regardless of whether overall funding increases or decreases, the effects will vary from department to department. Some departments may see increases while others see decreases.
Chairs were also asked to come up with different strategies to help increase enrollment.
Fletcher said ISU is also in the process of creating a financial plan for next year. Their financial plan will help save money by closely monitoring extra-curricular and administrative spending. He said that they would try to reduce the amount of money spent on things like travel, entertainment and meetings.
The student fee proposal calls for increases to all parties who are funded with student fees, except for scholarships and ASISU activities. The State Board of Education must vote on the proposal before it is finalized.
Student fees, however, are not the only factor that will determine how much money each party or department at ISU will receive. The State of Idaho also supplies ISU with a large portion of its funding. The state legislature will hold their budget hearings in April.
Due to low enrollment at ISU and national economic deficits, there have been some concerns of budget cuts for the coming year.
"It is very premature at this point to be talking about budget cuts because the process is still going on," said Jim Fletcher, Vice President of Finance and Administration at ISU.
"If people are talking about budget decreases, to the same degree they could be talking about budget increases."
Fletcher said that budget cuts have been predicted because of the poor state of the national economy, but ISU is prepared for either a budget increase or a budget decrease.
"We asked people to run alternative cases on this budget process," Fletcher said. "The reason we did this is very clear. We know that this is going to be a difficult year in Boise, and we know that's it's a difficult year economically across the country. I know this has got to have some influence in the thinking of our (state) legislators."
Fletcher said that chairs of each department were asked to make proposals that explained how they would react to a budget increase or a budget decrease in their department.
"In the event that we are less successful than we hope, we want to already have our alternative plans in place," Fletcher said. "Therefore we asked all of the academic departments as well as all the administrative departments to do a set of budget scenarios that said what would they do in the event that we have a five percent reduction in appropriated funds, but we also asked them at the same time to tell us what would they do in the event that they had a three percent increase in appropriated funds."
Regardless of whether overall funding increases or decreases, the effects will vary from department to department. Some departments may see increases while others see decreases.
Chairs were also asked to come up with different strategies to help increase enrollment.
Fletcher said ISU is also in the process of creating a financial plan for next year. Their financial plan will help save money by closely monitoring extra-curricular and administrative spending. He said that they would try to reduce the amount of money spent on things like travel, entertainment and meetings.
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