UNC Trustees Approve 2017-18 Budget
June 22, 2017
June 16, 2017 — University of Northern Colorado trustees approved the 2017-18 budget at their scheduled board meeting Friday, June 16.
As part of the budget presentation, Chief Financial Officer Michelle Quinn said the university is bracing for its third-straight year of growth in new first-time freshmen and fourth-straight year of growth in new graduate students. UNC is on target to enroll over 13,000 students for the first time since 2010, and if the projection holds, the highest total fall enrollment since 2006-07 when 13,363 students matriculated.
The budget, which includes, tuition, fees and room and board rates, was proposed at the board's finance and audit committee meeting in February. It covers the new fiscal year from July 1, 2017, through June 30, 2018.
UNC's tuition and fees are the lowest of all state research institutions and below most of the state's four-year schools. For Colorado residents, the base tuition for full-time undergraduates will increase by $468 a year to $7,374 annually. Differential tuition, which is charged for some programs, will stay the same in 2017-18. Typical room and board rates for the year will increase $210 to $10,980. Graduate tuition will increase by 3-5 percent based on program.
UNC's investment in financial aid and discounting is budgeted to increase by over $4.7 million. The $34.7 million includes institutional-funded financial aid supporting scholarships, room and board waivers, graduate tuition waivers, and graduate assistantship stipends board for qualifying students.
A detailed breakdown of costs for the 2017-18 academic year will be available by Monday afternoon at www.unco.edu/costs.
The board also approved:
- tenure, promotions (PDF) and emeritus status (PDF) for recommended faculty.
capital construction priorities for five years, as required by the state, beginning in 2018-19. - separate Faculty Senate approved amendments to the Board Policy Manual to:
- correct names and status changes in the Vision Statement,
- clarify appointment of a parliamentarian by Faculty Senate and procedures for instances when a parliamentarian isn't present,
- and an amended course scheduling policy statement recommended by the Academic Policies Committee.
- a resolution related to refinancing bonds.
Also, during the meeting:
- UNC President Kay Norton updated the board on efforts to further explore the possibility of hosting a private osteopathic college of medicine on campus at a renovated Bishop-Lehr Hall. The college would help prepare future physicians and would provide partnership opportunities for UNC health sciences programs. UNC President Emeritus Bob Dickeson is part of the group, Salud Education LLC, which planned on presenting the idea to the board last March before a funding partner withdrew from the project. Salud is now in the process of securing other funding sources and plans on conducting a feasibility study with UNC and securing pre-accreditation during the next year. UNC would also establish an agreement with Salud that sets principles whereby UNC would host the college. There's much more work to be done, but if all goes as planned, the college would begin enrolling students fall 2019 at the earliest.
- Consultant Susan Rankin, Ph.D., presented the findings of UNC's Campus Climate survey, which she shared in town hall meetings with campus last spring (report and presentation here). Vice President of Campus Community and Climate Katrina Rodriguez followed up with the action steps, outlined in the campus memo she emailed Thursday, that the university is taking based on the feedback from the survey.
