NEWS

This fall, students will face the university’s second- largest tuition and fee increase over the past 11 years — totaling an additional $17.84 per credit hour.

The biggest was last year’s $20.26 increase per credit hour.

 Both decisions were made by FAU’s 13-member Board of Trustees (BOT), which decides how FAU’s money is spent. The board was almost unanimously in favor of the increase.

Senior Vice President for Financial Affairs Dennis Crudele told the UP that the increase was supposed to be less drastic. Crudele is in charge of helping create and manage FAU’s operating budget.

According to Crudele, FAU only planned on raising tuition to help offset the loss of federal stimulus money it got over the last two fiscal years. That was more than $11.6 million per year. Plus, FAU had to raise it according to state law.

But then, the state cut FAU’s funding by approximately $12 million more than expected, Crudele said.

To make up for this unexpected loss, tuition had to be raised even more. To do this, the BOT got permission from the state’s Board of Governors (BOG) to raise FAU’s tuition differential.

The tuition differential is a fee that the BOT can raise as long as total tuition doesn’t go up by 15 percent, according to state law (see table). According to Crudele, it’s meant to give BOTs flexibility in raising tuition. The BOG oversees the state universities’ BOTs.

Crudele said the tuition and fee increases are expected to be raised $9,428,682 more this fiscal year than last, based on fall 2010 enrollment.

Despite this, the operating budget will still be smaller, according to FAU’s 2011-12 Operating Budget Executive Summary.

Because the budget will be smaller, “We will increase class sizes,” Crudele said. “If you have to add two or three students [to a class], it’s not going to hurt the faculty.” He added that there will be fewer classes offered, but the university will strive to maintain its quality of education.

Student Body President and BOT member Ayden Maher, who campaigned on promises to oppose tuition increases, abstained from voting yes or no. “If there were no state cuts … I would have voted no,”he said, adding that “the increases are needed because of cuts from the state … I am against the state’s cuts.” He also opined that the state should increase funding to FAU.

Capped Out

The state denied FAU’s $8.2 million request for building and equipment maintenance

Grass is going to be browner than usual thanks to university budget cuts, and senior psychology major Alexander Antonucci is not happy about it.

“It’s terrible because most of us are forced to live on concrete,” he complained. “The grass gives students a softness with nature.”

FAU is going to have to water the grass less because Gov. Rick Scott vetoed giving FAU more than $3 million that would have gone toward upkeep of roofs, sidewalks, water pipes and sprinklers.

Although there is a cut, students won’t face critical safety hazards because of it, FAU Architect Tom Donaudy said.

“Maybe a sidewalk doesn’t get pressure cleaned … There should be very little impact on students and faculty this year.”

Originally, FAU requested approximately $8.2 million in Public Education Capital Outlay (PECO) from the state, according to Donaudy. PECO funding is used to construct new buildings, buy new equipment and maintain old buildings and equipment.

But the legislature shrunk that original $8.2 million down to $3,251,463 before passing it on to the governor, who vetoed it. Instead, the state’s Board of Governors will grant FAU $775,488 from its PECO Cash Reserve, according to a presentation given to the Board of Trustees by Senior Vice President for Financial Affairs Dennis Crudele on June 15.

The BOT is FAU’s 13-member board that decides how FAU’s money is spent. The BOG oversees the state universities’ BOTs. Crudele is in charge of helping create and manage FAU’s operating budget.

Despite the cut, Donaudy is not worried. “We can sustain what we’ve got this year … We’re still optimistic.”

He noted that PECO money was not the only way FAU can get funding for equipment and maintenance, pointing out a $500,000 state grant to help improve air conditioning cost efficiency. “We’ll continue looking for alternate sources of funds.”

In the meantime, he said, certain maintenance will have to be deferred until the next fiscal year. Among these things are maintaining some water pipes, watering and fertilizing some grass, and pressure cleaning some sidewalks.

Donaudy said that FAU will try to get PECO funding next fiscal year. If it does come through next time, Antonucci said he’ll be very pleased.

“I’d love it. It would be a great change in campus experience for students. I know that, after class, hanging out [on the grass] is a great way for me to relax and hang with my friends.”