96-06-06 Trustees: Ohio State Adopts Interim Budget, Considers Student Fees OHIO STATE ADOPTS INTERIM BUDGET, CONSIDERS STUDENT FEES COLUMBUS -- The Ohio State University Board of Trustees on Thursday (6/6) adopted an interim budget to permit expenditures and salary payments to continue past the beginning of the new fiscal year on July 1. The measure will be in effect until President E. Gordon Gee presents the administration's recommendation for the 1996-97 Current Funds Budget for consideration at the July 12 meeting. William J. Shkurti, vice president for finance, shared with the board the administration's budget recommendations for fees and charges for the 1996-97 fiscal year and plans for reserving 1 percent of a 6 percent increase in tuition to fund improvements to student services. Trustees also renewed a contract for student health insurance and approved a contract to renovate recreation centers on the Columbus campus. Student fees to increase an average of 4.1 percent Pending budget approval, the cost for an Ohio resident undergraduate student to attend Ohio State this autumn and live in university housing will increase $369 per year, or 4.1 percent. Most of that increase is reflected in tuition, which will increase 6 percent or $195 for a total of $3,468 per year. Trustees approved the tuition increase earlier this year. Room and board will increase 2.3 percent or $105. According to Shkurti, a typical two-person room on South Campus with 10 meals a week will cost an undergraduate student $1,543. A single room for a graduate student with 10 meals a week will be $1,528. The price of rooms elsewhere on campus will vary from those figures. Students will spend on average $30 more for textbooks and supplies, $33 more for health insurance, and $5 more for parking and bus passes. A ticket to a football game will cost $13, or $5 more than last autumn, while the price of a basketball ticket will remain at $7. (See the attached tables on tuition and student fees.) Quarterly computer fees will be $85 for undergraduate business students and $110 for undergraduate engineering students. Computer fees for graduate students in those fields will be $120. "We are reducing the undergraduate fees $5 to offset the portion of the undergraduate tuition increase that is earmarked for instructional computing support," said Ed Ray, senior vice provost and chief information officer. The decrease reflects a commitment to reduce differences in computing costs across the university as overall support for instructional technology services increases. Undergraduate and graduate students in computer and information sciences will pay $73 and $80 respectively. Other students are not assessed computer fees. Parking will be $80 for students, $118 for staff and $222 for faculty. Students opting to park on West Campus will pay a reduced rate, $37. The price of a football ticket for faculty and staff will be $22 while a basketball ticket will cost $15. Memberships at the university's golf course will be $240 for students and $880 for faculty and staff and green fees will be $10 and $16, respectively. Patients at University Hospitals and the James Cancer Hospital and Research Institute will pay about the same amount for hospital-provided services as before. "There may be some shifting up and down on some fees, but in the aggregate, the cost for room and board, lab fees and so on will not increase," Shkurti said. Student health insurance premiums to rise 6 percent Trustees renewed the student health insurance contract with Central Benefits Mutual Insurance Co. for the 1996-97 academic year with rate increases of 6 percent to 6.2 percent. The plan is fully funded by student premiums. It will be available on an optional basis to all registered students. The plan maintains existing benefits and adds several improvements, including: -- Adding the newly created OSU Urgent Care Clinic to the preferred provider network. -- Expanding the contraceptive prescriptions benefit at Student Health Services. -- Adding seven days of coverage prior to the beginning of a school term for new enrollees. Quarterly rates will be $188 for student coverage; $513 for student and spouse; $557 for student and children; and $831 for student, spouse and children. Student Affairs Committee discusses tuition set-aside The Student Affairs Committee discussed proposed uses for the 1 percent tuition set-aside with Vice President William Shkurti. After some considerable discussion of the need to direct the funds to programs that directly affect students, it was decided to seek further information and bring the topic back for final recommendations at the July meeting. Reallocation could fund basic renovation of Ohio Union University officials are proposing to reallocate some existing funds to finance basic renovations of the 45-year- old Ohio Union. The funding includes $10 million that will become available when the university pays off a coal-fired boiler in fiscal year 1999, Shkurti said. The money will be supplemented with funds from the Office of Student Affairs. The basic renovations will only address health and safety upgrades, handicapped access problems and replacement of the worn-out heating, ventilating and air-conditioning system. The Office of Student Affairs will provide up to an additional $4.5 million to renovate the food-service areas and to renovate and upgrade the appearance of student areas, including painting and carpet, Shkurti said. That money will come from Ohio Union revenues and Housing, Food Services and Events Centers funds, he said. The funding plan does not provide for any expansion in space at the Union, he said, but reaffirms the university's commitment to improve student facilities without raising fees. A student referendum to fund renovation and expansion of the Union with a student fee was decisively rejected last year. Contracts approved for recreation center improvements Trustees approved a contract for $954,900 with Williamson Builders of Plain City to renovate the three Jesse Owens Recreation Centers on the Columbus campus. The project includes removing and replacing all rotting and mildewed exterior wood, staining and varnishing the exteriors, adding safety perimeter lighting, and modifying or replacing the exterior doors. The $1.12 million total project is expected to be completed by January. Ohio State capital funds exceed $100 million Shkurti reported that the university will receive more than $100 million from the recently-passed state budget bill. Funds were included for renovations at all campuses, for the Max M. Fisher College of Business, a food science and technology building, a life sciences research building, and the Austin E. Knowlton School of Architecture. Funds also will be used to plan a physical sciences building, the renovation of Hagerty Hall and replacement of Sisson Hall on the Columbus campus. Also funded were a conference center, water plant, equipment and renovations at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center at Wooster. # Contact: William J. Shkurti, (614) 292-9232; Edward Ray, (614) 292-5881; David Williams II, vice president for student affairs, (614) 292-9334; Jill Morelli, assistant vice president and university architect, (614) 292-4458. Written by Tom Spring, David Bhaerman, and Jeanette Drake. [Submitted by: Von Reid-Vargas (ereid@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu) Thu, 6 Jun 1996 16:23:00 -0400] All documents are the responsibility of their originator.