UpDate - Vol. 15, No. 12, Page 1
November 16, 1995
Administration makes its case for increase in state support
University of Delaware President David P. Roselle made a case on
Nov. 9 to state budget director Pete Ross for a $3.4 million increase
in recurring state support in the upcoming fiscal year, focusing on
four major areas that are at the heart of the University's mission-
scholarships, teaching, research and public service.
The University, a land-grant, sea-grant, space-grant and urban-
grant institution, is an intellectual and cultural center for all
Delawareans and citizens of the surrounding region, Roselle said.
"Excellence requires selectivity and focus," Roselle said, and
"institutional vitality depends upon maintaining and building from
existing strengths and judging new proposals according to the
University's resource base and mission.
"Priority in the University's request," he said, "has been given
to those programs that meet the needs of the society, in particular
those of the state of Delaware and the surrounding community.
"As partners, the University and the state can continue to meet
the intellectual, research and public service needs of the citizens of
Delaware well into the 21st century," Roselle said.
The University's total request to the state is for $87.2 million,
an increase of 4.0 percent over the current allocation.
The request focuses on four major areas: Access (scholarships);
teaching and those who support it; service to the citizens of
Delaware; and knowledge generation (research).
The University's top priority for support is $298,800 for six
scholarship programs, including $100,000 to address Title IX
requirements relating to the equitable distribution of funds between
men and women athletes.
"The University is committed to providing the highest quality
undergraduate education to the graduates of Delaware high schools,"
Roselle said, "and consistent with that commitment is our policy that
no qualified Delaware resident be denied access to the University
because of inability to pay for the cost of higher education."
The state and the University have jointly increased the depth and
breadth of scholarship programs for Delawareans over the past several
years, Roselle said, and "this has significantly improved access to
the University for all students in the state, regardless of
socioeconomic standing."
However, he stressed, "the University continues to be concerned
about our inability to meet the full need of all Delawareans who wish
to enroll."
The president also requested $150,000 in additional funds to meet
inflationary pressures on the library, which is at the core of any
scholarly community. "Inflation in the price of library books and
periodicals continues to far outstrip the growth rate in the Consumer
Price Index," Roselle said. The overall inflation rate for library
materials in the upcoming fiscal year is estimated to be at 15
percent, resulting in an additional expenditure of $367,000 to
maintain the existing collection of subscriptions, he said.
The top priority in new programs and program enhancements,
Roselle said, is $297,000 in funding for a Mathematics and Science
Education Program for Delaware Teachers. "Teachers from throughout the
state have asked the University to provide courses and seminars in
mathematics and science that will enable them to stay current in their
fields," Roselle said. "They have asked for courses that focus not
only on new curricular developments but also on how to teach the
lastest advances in mathematics and science, taking advantage of the
most current instructional technologies for enhancing classroom
instruction."
Courses in this program would be designed so teachers could enter
at an appropriate point, based on their backgrounds and needs, would
be offered throughout the academic year in formats consistent with
teachers' schedules and would be delivered in public schools
throughout the state, particularly where computing technology is in
place.
Other priorities in the University's request to the state include
* support for a program that would bring University library staff
into the public schools to train school staff on the latest
software advances, making the University's extensive library
collections as accessible as the online catalog, DelCat, now is
throughout the state.
* funding for a Teaching with Technology Initiative, to increase
the number of UD faculty who use technology and to build on the
UD's efforts to deliver instruction beyond the boundary of its
campuses.
* support to establish the successful women's crew, now functioning
with club status on the campus, as a varsity intercollegiate
sport, with funding for a coaching position and operating costs.
The addition of women's crew to the roster of varsity sports
creates a general participation ratio that more closely matches
enrollments. Roselle said.
* additional funds to supplement the state's current appropriation
for the Summer School for Teachers Program, since the subsidy
has, for the past several years, fallen well short of tuition
revenues waived by the UD for participating Delaware teachers.
The increased support would place the University and the state on
an equal footing as "funding partners" for this important
program, Roselle said.
* added support for five special outreach and service activities in
the College of Agricultural Sciences, including poultry disease
research, the Agricultural Experiment Station, Cooperative
Extension, Crop Extension, the Soil Testing Service and pesticide
control.
* funding to support outreach by the College of Urban Affairs and
Public Policy in three critical areas that would benefit the
state, local governments and nonprofit agencies, particularly in
response to expressed needs and for informed policy formulation.
These areas are health policy research, research and training in
human service delivery and intergovernmental and municipal
planning.
* support for research projects in the areas of molecular biology
and biotechnology, building on existing curricular and research
strengths and expanding into an area where the University is
uniquely positioned to be a major player;
* funding for establishment of a Center for Materials Research that
will first look at nanostructured materials, which are so small
that they cannot be seen with the most powerful optical
microscope, a field that is strongly related to research and
development efforts at major local industries. Such an initiative
will move the University to the forefront in the field and
clearly benefit such local industries as Gore, DuPont and
Lanxide, Roselle said. A companion request seeks funds for the
Materials Science Program, to enable the University to leverage
matching federal and private funding, particularly through the
Delaware Research Partnership.
* support to underwrite a Multimedia Telecommunications Initiative
in support of education and research activities in this field,
which will bring together researchers in the Departments of
Computer and Information Sciences and Electrical Engineering; and
* one-time funding for start-up equipment and operationg costs for
the Mathematics and Science Education Program, the Molecular
Biology/Biotechnology Initiative, the Varsity Women's Crew Team,
the Teaching with Technology Initiative and the Materials Science
Program.
The president also outlined the University's $8.5 million capital
request for F.Y. 1997, which includes
* $4 million, for the final installment of the state's $15 million
contribution toward the $22 million addition and renovation of
Colburn Laboratory, home of the nationally ranked Department of
Chemical Engineering;
* $3 million, as the third installment of the state's $11 million
contribution toward the $15 million addition and renovation of
Purnell Hall, home of the popular College of Business and
Economics; and
* $1.5 million for facilities renewal and renovation, a figure to
be matched by University resources, and used for a number of
campus projects, including the renovation of lecture hall
facilities in Smith and Kirkbride halls and of organic teaching
labs in Brown Laboratory and infrestructure renewal of DuPont
Hall.
"The University takes very seriously its responsibility to
preserve its physical endowment," Roselle said.