The College's Board of Trustees has approved a 1999-2000
budget that President Roger Hull says meets the challenge of strengthening the
College's competitive position while limiting the increase in the cost to attend
Union.
The 1999-2000 budget reflects a number of priorities. Among them:
— A commitment to limiting increases in the cost of a Union education. This is the
seventh consecutive percentage decrease and the smallest dollar increase since 1986-87.
The total for tuition, room and board and other fees is $30,573, a 3.48 percent increase
over this year.
— A continued commitment to meet the financial need of all accepted students. The
College will increase its financial aid budget to nearly $17.3 million, a 4 percent
increase over this year. The financial aid expenditure represents about 35 percent of
budgeted tuition and fees revenues.
— Providing fair and competitive compensation. Faculty and administrative
salaries, as well as hourly wages, are to increase by a 2 percent cost of living component
and a 1.5 percent merit pool . Both components are awarded based upon the respective
evaluation processes in place for faculty and staff. In addition, the upcoming budget is
the third in a four-year plan to bring faculty, librarian and certain administrative staff
salaries in line with comparable positions at other institutions.
In a budget report last week to faculty, Diane Blake, vice president for finance and
administration, said that 74 percent of revenues come from tuition, room and board and
another 4 percent comes from graduate studies revenue. The draw on endowment is about 12
percent. Sixty-five percent of expenditures are for academic programs, student financial
aid and employee benefits. Benefits total $9.1 million, about 11 percent of the total
expenditures. There is no inflationary increase for supplies in the upcoming budget. Blake
also noted that deferred maintenance has been reduced from $18 million to $8 million over
the past several years. Campus assets are valued at about $200 million.
A technology endowment will provide about $185,000 for technology needs in Schaffer
Library. An endowed fund designated to provide funding for an annual computer replacement
reserve was established in 1997-98 using unrestricted bequests that have come to the
College. At its present size, this endowment will provide about $38,000 in 1999-2000. The
goal is to eventually provide $800,000 for this purpose.
In other action, the College's Board of Trustees learned:
A $9,000 grant from Campus Compact will be used to form a partnership between Union, GE
Elfun and Van Corlaer School for the mentoring of elementary students. The grant will
cover the cost of running a Neighborhood Outreach Center in the Seward-West area in the
hopes that the model program can be enlarged.
The College's endowment, as of Dec. 31, was about $245 million (market value).
Some 35 homes have been purchased through the Union-Schenectady Initiative at a cost of
$2.3 million, and meetings continue to develop a “blueprint” for the use of the
buildings. Three employees have purchased homes under the employee incentive program, and
others are considering purchases. Among items under discussion for the neighborhood are a
Montessori School, a Union ice rink, and an off-campus bookstore and Campus Safety office.
Plans have begun for renovation of Parker Rice (to be renamed Abbe Hall), 1294 Lenox,
AD Phi (for admissions), and Fero House (for AD Phi).
Campus Safety has replaced the residence hall desk attendant program with a
neighborhood policing concept designed to make officers more accessible to students to
assist with safety and security concerns.
Gift totals for the first half of the fiscal year were about $6.7 million. Capital
receipts were $5.2 million, and Annual Fund receipts were $1.5 million.
The Board declared tenurable and promoted to associate professor: Karen Brison and
Stephen Leavitt, anthropology; Ronald Bucinell, mechanical engineering; Ashraf Ghaly,
civil engineering; John Stephen Horton, biology; and Amanda Leamon, modern languages.