By Dennis O’Neil
The state of Kentucky must invest more heavily in the University of Louisville if it is expected to reach the Council on Post-Secondary Education’s goals, according to the university’s 12-year business plan presented Wednesday.
The business plan includes a five percent tuition increase, but it may go up to as much as nine percent if U of L is denied its full funding request.
“We don’t want to base our budget every year on raising tuition,” said Michael Curtin, U of L’s vice president for finance. “We don’t want to chase students away, but we think five percent is a number that isn’t going to break our students’ backs.”
Sophomore elementary education major Cindy Albright said of the increase, “I understand the need for the university to raise tuition. I think it is good that they aren’t avoiding tuition hikes as a possibility in planning for the future.
I just hope that a lot of the funding goes to benefit students as much as it can, since they are the ones who are paying into the system,” Albright said.
U of L’s Board of Trustees passed a corresponding resolution Wednesday imploring the state to honor the university’s funding request for the 2008-09 school year. The measure came in response to the Council’s recommendation that the university only receive half of the funding it initially requested.
President Dr. James R. Ramsey’s presentation of U of L’s 2008-2020 business plan, the “Financial Roadmap,” placed heavy emphasis on state funding as a key component in achieving the university’s goals.
The plan calls for improvements in such areas as instructional technology, financial aid administration and improved conditions for research.
According to Curtin, the university will require $31 million of outside funding for the university’s business plan in the Fall of 2008. The resolution demanded the CPE “make every effort to achieve full funding for the University of Louisville.”
The university’s goals are heavily linked to the CPE’s “Double the Numbers” plan, which sets standards that Kentucky institutions must meet by the year 2020. The plan mandates that U of L must increase its number of baccalaureate degrees by 700 students, and its retention rate to 80.3 percent.
“To achieve these goals, the Commonwealth must invest in the University of Louisville at significantly higher levels for the 12 years of the plan,” U of L’s business plan reads.
According to Curtin, the plan was compiled after a similar plan from the University of Kentucky was warmly received by the Kentucky General Assembly. The CPE then recommended that all Kentucky universities compose a business plan which charts their progress up to 2020.
“The CPE doesn’t specify what has to be in each plan,” Curtin said. “We used this as an opportunity to cost out our Strategic Plan for 2020, which was put together by the Provost and is currently under review.”
The plan does not lay out money to improve such areas as parking or food services, recently reported on by The Louisville Cardinal. Curtin said these areas are auxiliary enterprises, meaning they can only run off of the revenue which they generate.
The plan also sets out annual increases for student services and student life. A sum of $2.25 million will be invested in areas like student health and counseling services, while another $2 million will go to areas like student activities and campus housing.
With the emphasis on necessary state funding though, it remains to be seen how many of the plan’s goals are achievable. According to Curtin, the board will now allow Ramsey to make minor refinements to the plan before it is submitted to the CPE.
