UpDate - Vol. 11, No. 9, Page 1
October 31, 1991
President asks state to restore funding levels
In a hearing before the state's budget director Oct. 24,
University of Delaware President David P. Roselle outlined the
University's request for total state support of $75.8 million,
which includes as its "cornerstone" $2.6 million in restoration of
funding levels that have been targeted for reduction by the state
for the next fiscal year.
The reduction in state support to the University's base budget
cannot be absorbed "without severe and significant consequences,"
Roselle said, noting that the proposed reductions come on top of
the University's own program to cut back its total operating
budget.
If the restoration is denied, the president said, the
University will be forced to explore several options, including
raising tuition over and above levels tied to inflation;
eliminating or reducing entire departments, programs and services
with a resulting reduction in personnel; and eliminating or making
major reductions in special lines in the budget such as the
Research Partnership Program, Financial Services Center and the
Local Government Assistance Program.
In his presentation, Roselle also expressed "genuine concern
over the unequal treatment" the University has received in recent
years compared with growth in state appropriations to Delaware
higher education as a whole and with overall growth in the state
budget.
"We are genuinely concerned that the University's fiscal
position with the state is eroding and it is more eroding relative
to other institutions," Roselle said. "The University has been
fully cooperative in working with the state to address the current
economic difficulties within the state's budget. However, a
cornerstone in any relationship is cooperation."
Over the fiscal year period from 1988 through 1992, he
explained, the University's appropriation has grown by 10.7
percent, while growth for all of higher education in the state was
17.1 percent and growth for the overall state budget was 16.9
percent. At the same time, Roselle said, the cumulative growth rate
for the University's appropriation is less than half of the 22.7
percent increase in the Consumer Price Index for the same period.
"The University has enjoyed a close working relationship with
the state government over the years, working together in a
partnership that has provided a broad range of high quality
educational services to the citizens of the state of Delaware," he
said.
"We are grateful for the state's support of the University,
and we seek ways to enhance our special relationship and to
strengthen our services to the people of Delaware," Roselle said.
The president explained the foundation of the 1992-93
appropriation request as restoration of $2,591,700 in reductions
targeted by the state, representing a 2 percent recision of the
University's base budget totaling $1,371,900, and an additional
$1,219,800 to cover projected increases in health and energy costs.
These target reductions follow F.Y. '91 reductions of 4
percent and an F.Y. '92 appropriation $1 million short of
recovering ground lost the year before, he explained.
During the last two fiscal years, Roselle said, in addition to
state cutbacks, the University eliminated $15.9 million in items
from its own basic operating budget. "A particularly painful
portion of those reductions is the equivalent of 195 personnel
positions," Roselle noted.
"The fiscal year 1993 target reductions, coming on top of the
erosion in the state appropriation in the two preceding fiscal
years, will necessarily result in the elimination of additional
personnel lines and the capacity to deliver essential services
associated with those lines," he said, adding that student
enrollments at the University have not decreased, "reflecting
continuing student demand for the high-quality educational services
that characterize the University of Delaware."
The University's request, in addition to the restoration of
targeted cutbacks, also includes $668,300 in increases tied to
inflation. These are:
* $54,000 increase in aid to needy students to ensure that
no Delaware resident student will be denied an education
because of inability to pay;
* $64,000 additional Title VI compliance funds to assist
African-American Delawareans with tuition, room and
board, as part of the University's continuing commitment
to increase the racial and cultural diversity of its
student body;
* $44,000 in additional athletic scholarship funds to help
student athletes meet anticipated increases in tuition
and fees in the next academic year;
* $86,000 additional funds for scholarships targeted
specifically for Delaware residents;
* $250,000 additional support, in addition to restoration
of current funding levels, for the Delaware Research
Partnership, a unique entrepreneurial association between
the University, state and industry;
* $160,000 to cover increased costs in library books and
periodicals; and
* $10,300 to cover increased costs associated with the
Summer School for Teachers.
President Roselle also sought support for six new programs,
including two new scholarship programs. An allocation of $100,000
would help establish the Delaware Scholars Award Program to
recognize academic excellence in graduates of Delaware high schools
who attend the University and $100,000 would help establish a
program of nursing scholarships designed to attract the most gifted
students to the College of Nursing.
Other new initiatives include $25,000 for expansion of the
current bachelor's degree in liberal studies program, to be
centered primarily in the Georgetown Higher Education Building;
$65,000 to pay salary, benefits and support costs for an additional
faculty member in the Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional
Management Program, in response to demand for highly qualified,
well-trained personnel for the state's hotel and restaurant
business enterprises; $70,600 for library outreach services, to
enhance the University's ability to meet library information needs
of users throughout the state; and $250,000 in one-time funding to
equip undergraduate laboratories, particularly in chemistry,
physics, engineering and agricultural engineering.
In addition, Roselle discussed the University's $8 million
capital request, which would complete two projects initiated in
Fiscal Year 1990. The request includes $2 million for the Bob
Carpenter Sports/Convocation Center, a $20 million facility to be
completed by September of 1992, and $6 million in state support of
the Lamott du Pont Laboratory, a facility designed to enhance
chemistry research and education scheduled for completion in June
of 1993.