SEMO EXPECTS TO SPEND $100 MILLION IN 1999

Southeast Missouri State University expects to spend more than $100 million this fiscal year to operate the school.

The Board of Regents is expected to approve the university's operating budget for fiscal 1999 when it meets Wednesday, one week after the start of the fiscal year.

Salaries and benefits make up more than half of the $73 million general operations budget. Combined, they total nearly $47 million.

On the revenue side, the largest share of funding -- some $44 million -- will come from the state.

Tuition and other student fees are expected to generate nearly $22 million. That total doesn't include room-and-board charges.

In addition to the $73 million in spending for general operations, Southeast plans to spend nearly $17.7 million to operate its auxiliary services.

Those 12 operations are designed to be self-supporting. They include campus residence halls, Show Me Center, Student Recreation Center, printing services, and parking and transportation.

The university also plans to spend more than $30 million on capital projects over the next two years.

The operating budget includes merit pay increases totaling 3 percent for all employee groups. The university doesn't give across-the-board pay raises.

The faculty, through its compensation committee, had agreed to accept a 2.75 percent pay raise to balance the budget.

But the Board of Regents decided in closed session earlier this year that all employee groups, including faculty, should receive 3 percent pay raises.

Don Dickerson, board president, said the regents believe the university can afford such pay hikes.

"I think the board felt our finances were such that the little bit of difference probably would be taken care of with some increase in enrollment," he said.

"We believe we will see a rise in enrollment this year which will bring in more revenue," Dickerson said.

According to the budget, a 3 percent pay increase for faculty would add more than $742,000 to the university's expenses.

Lowering it by a fourth of a percent would have sliced about $62,000 off the cost.

Dickerson said the university has made strides to bring faculty salaries in line with comparable institutions in recent years. "We don't want to start slipping back," he said.

"We feel like our budget and our finances are in pretty good shape," Dickerson said.

Dr. Ken Dobbins, Southeast's executive vice president, said the university has reached its goal of providing competitive salaries for faculty.

He said everyone on the university's Budget Review Committee seemed to be on the same page this year when it came to drawing up the spending plan.

The committee regularly finishes its work with a marathon session that can last all day.

"This year, it was finished in six hours and 15 minutes," Dobbins said. "That was probably a new record."

The 27-member committee, which includes faculty, staff and student representatives, completed its work in May.

Southeast's spending plan as recommended by President Dr. Dale Nitzschke includes $1.65 million in added expenses to the school's base budget for general operations and an additional $158,000 in one-time expenses.

Those increases include added spending of about $240,000 for student services, primarily focused on student recruitment.

Money also is budgeted to establish a student wellness program and a child-care enrichment center, and improve gender equity in the school's athletic programs.