Administrators to outline budget today

Administrators will brief faculty and staff on the University's proposed budget for next fiscal year and their plan to deal with the possibility of a second year without state funding at noon today. President Sheldon Hackney would not reveal details of the budget plan but said yesterday that it will be "pretty stringent." "We've seen this year coming for some time and thought it would be tough and as we put [the budget] together we found that prediction to be true." Hackney added that the University is running behind the normal budgeting schedule for this year and attributed the delay to new federal accounting rules and the problems with state funding for the University. "We're not quite as put together as we like to be at this time of the year," Hackney said. Among the items to be announced at tomorrow's briefing is next year's tuition and fees increase. Last year, tuition and fees rose 5.9 percent, or $944, to a total of $16,838. This was the lowest tuition increase since 1974 and followed a recent trend of decreasing rates of tuition increases. A briefing for students will be held at noon in the Lauder-Fisher Hall Amphitheater on Thursday. The University Trustees will then vote on the tuition increase and budget proposal in their annual March meeting on Friday at 2 p.m. in the Faculty Club. This year, the University grappled with a $19.5 million deficit made necessary by the state legislature's refusal to provide a requested $41 million in funding to the University. The University's Veterinary School was hit especially hard by the loss of state funding, losing 40 percent of its operating budget. The University remains committed to keeping the school open until members of its 1997 graduating class complete their education at the school. The Vet School is budgeted to carry a deficit again in the upcoming fiscal year, Hackney said. The University has continued to lobby the state throughout the year for restoration of this funding, but so far it has seen no state money. "I think that the governor and the legislature will eventually recognize the need for the Vet School," Hackney said. "We hope for state funding beyond the Vet School, but it is difficult to tell at this point what will happen." A bill that would, if enacted, restore $36.3 million to the University passed the State Senate in January and is currently awaiting action in the House. "There have been no budget discussions to date on the [governor's] supplemental appropriations or the aid to private higher education," a House appropriations official said yesterday. Officials in both the House and Senate said yesterday that Gov. Robert Casey must come to the legislature with his request for supplemental funding for the current fiscal year by the time of the legislature's Easter recess. Some University funding might be restored as part of that supplemental package, legislative aides said. The University has also requested over $42 million from the state for the upcoming 1993-94 fiscal year. Casey recommended last month that the University receive none of this money. It was similar action by Casey in February 1992 that preceeded the state legislature's decision to deny the University's request for funding in the current fiscal year. On Friday, the Trustees will also vote on whether to confirm the appointment of Janet Hale as new executive vice president, the University's chief financial officer. Today's budget announcement will take place in the Lauder-Fisher Hall Amphitheater. All faculty and staff are invited to attend.

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