The Official Student News Media of Southeastern Louisiana University

The Lion's Roar

The Official Student News Media of Southeastern Louisiana University

The Lion's Roar

The Official Student News Media of Southeastern Louisiana University

The Lion's Roar

    University has ‘no worries’ for the academic budget

    A lot of work was done this past summer by Vice President for Administration and Finance Sam Domiano and Budget Director John Paul Domiano along with their team to tackle the many worries concerning the academic budget and its effects on students and faculty.

    The team began working on the budget in early July. It was then submitted to the System Office for August 3. The budget for the University of Louisiana System will have the nine schools discussed by a board of supervisors Wednesday, August 26.

    115.6 million dollars is the operating budget for the 2015-2016 fiscal year. In the end of Spring 2015, there were questions circulating around campus about the magnitude of the budget cuts and what the consequences were going to be. Even though the potential for cuts was greatest at 1.6 billion dollars, as of now, the Budget Office was able to reduce the cuts to zero. 

    “Because our budget increased slightly compared to last year, there were no budget cuts to departments,” said Sam Domiano. “There were lots of things said and done throughout the session, but in the end, there weren’t cuts, which we were very grateful for. Legislatures had to work really hard to get us to that point, and we are grateful that there was not a cut.”

    Although students will not be experiencing any aftermath from the rumored budget cuts, there was still a 10 percent increase in tuition due to the LA GRAD act, but this will be the last year the 10 percent will be administered towards tuition.

    Due to the increase in tuition, the Budget Office was more aware of the students’ needs and kept this in mind while budgeting.

    “When we were looking at the fees, we [were] very sensitive to the fact that students already have the 10 percent increase,” said Sam Domiano. “So, we were very careful about the fact that’s already going to be an increase in costs students would have to bear. Quite honestly, we are very sensitive to the fact that students have had those tuition increases over the course of these past few years. Cumulatively speaking, we understand that there have been multiple increases and that becomes more of a burden that’s being placed on our students. We were trying to be careful where fees were being implemented.”

    While determining what fees were necessary for students to pay as opposed to those that weren’t, the office found there were two critical areas that needed funding in order to help both students and faculty directly. One of these areas was the student technology fee. The technology fee was administered in the late 90’s and has not been adjusted until now. Sam Domiano believes the fee will give students the technology they deserve and learning wouldn’t be possible without it.

    “Our needs were outpacing our funding,” said Sam Domiano. “We implemented a fee that was like the student technology resource fee. It is one dollar per credit hour to provide some additional fundings to ensure that the technology, like technology in the classroom, can be replaced.”

    The other fee implemented was resources for student success, which is geared to improve retention rates and ensure students’ success. 

    “We tried to identify those resources that are needed throughout, and we came up with the student success fee,” said Sam Domiano.

    The fee will be 44 dollars in the fall and spring and 22 dollars in the summer. It will be eliminating other fees students previously paid throughout their college career, such as the diploma fee and tutoring support fees. These fees will, now, be a part of the resources for the student success fee.

    There will also be new resources offered under the fee. This includes internships and special projects meant to provide opportunities to better prepare students.

    “That’s how the fee came about,” said Sam Domiano. “Let’s stop charging students along the way. Let’s determine what’s needed. Let’s understand what resources we need to provide and how we can make these resources available to students and just do it in a single fee.” 

    In addition to keeping in mind the increased tuition students have to pay, the office is able to assist students who take a harder hit from the increase in tuition under the House Bill 152, requiring the university to give five percent of generated revenue to students needing assistance. The bill initially only requires the university to give five percent, but the office was able to raise it to 10 percent. 

    Also, no changes were made in the funding and criteria of existing scholarship awards. 

    The foundation has been working to generate additional dollars for scholarships to lighten the financial burden students carry from the 10 percent increase in tuition. Even though the Budget Office plays a primary role in the academic budget and success of the university, students are needed more than ever to keep the university progressing.

    “Increasing enrollment is very important due to being the primary revenue for the university,” said Sam Domiano. “We were getting most of our funds in operating budget from the state. What you find when you look forward in 2015-2016 is that it is totally in reverse. Most of our budget is funded from what we call self-generated dollars. That is the tuition students bring in when they choose to attend the university. So, it’s kind of flipped in business model.”

    As of now, a small part of the total budget comes from the state; more than 70 percent comes from students. Enrollment fees are very critical since there were no cuts. In addition,  departments in charge of recruitment process play a bigger role more than ever in funding. 

    For more information about the budget and finance, contact the Budget Office at 985-549-2283.

     

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