Fort Collins, Colorado

Saturday, March 20, 2010 | 32°F

Business Center | Spring Break

by Madeline Novey

The Rocky Mountain Collegian

In order to help students and faculty to better understand the pressure its administration is under to make cuts and balance the budget, the university is hosting educational sessions about the CSU budget today and next week.

The sessions, called “Budget 101,” focus on the university’s operating and general budgets and provide a breakdown of CSU’s revenues and expenses, something that university leaders say is vital information the public needs to participate in future budget discussions.

They will take place in the Lory Student Center North Ballroom today from 1 to 3:30 p.m. and Monday from 3:30 to 5 p.m. in the LSC Cherokee Park Ballroom.

Seeing revenue and expense sources will help people to “see the (budget) picture come together,” Interim Provost Rick Miranda said, “and help (them) to understand choices the administration makes.”

“The more we educate, the better off we’ll be,” he said.

In this year’s budget sessions –– last year was the first year “Budget 101” was hosted –– the community should expect to see a large decrease in the amount of state appropriations CSU will receive in fiscal year 2011 and a greater dependency on tuition dollars, Miranda said.

The amount of stimulus funding CSU will receive in FY11 will decrease too, eventually running out in 2012, the year politicians have called the financial “cliff” in the world of higher education.

The largest expenditure Miranda said people will see at the sessions is the university’s investment in its students –– the university’s financial aid program is expected to expand by $4.5 million. Both the need-based and merit-based packages for students will expand, he said.

Both Miranda and CSU spokesperson Brad Bohlander said the community response to last year’s budget sessions was generally positive, drawing about 200 people in total.

“Word got out that it was a worthwhile experience, and I think this year will be the same,” Miranda said.
The “Budget 101” sessions follow the university’s budget hearings at which all CSU departments presented the administration with their proposed budgets for FY11 and the areas they could cut if necessary.

Based on these budget plans, presented on Jan. 27, the administration will compile CSU’s initial, FY11 draft budget. This budget will be issued to the university community by mid-February for review and feedback, spokesperson Emily Wilmsen said in a press release.

A final open planning and budget hearing is scheduled on March 10 from 9 to 11 a.m. in the Lory Student Center North Ballroom.

After the budget is finalized, a copy will be sent to the CSU System Board of Governors for final approval before the new fiscal year starts June 1.

News Managing Editor Madeline Novey can be reached at news@collegian.com.

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