Southeast regents decrease incidental fees

Following Gov. Jay Nixon's release of primary and higher education funds, the Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents on Sunday approved a new incidental fee schedule that lowers students' costs, effective this semester.

In two separate items, members also approved faculty merit salary increase recommendations and lump-sum merit salary recommendations.

With Sunday afternoon's action at Academic Hall, fees charged to resident undergraduate students will decrease from $234.75 to $231.25 per credit hour. Total fees assessed for lower-division courses at the regional campuses will decrease from $145 to $141 per credit hour.

Vice president for finance and administration Kathy Mangels said a credit will be placed on students' accounts based on the number of credit hours they are taking.

"Going forward, this will be the rate that is charged to students," Mangels added.

Mangels said the $2.50 increase to general fees for maintenance and repair will continue to be assessed because it is designated to repay bonds and was previously approved by Student Government and reported under legislative requirements.

The board originally approved the general fees in December 2010, which were scheduled to be fully assessed in fall 2013 for repayment of 2010 bonds, according to material from the meeting.

Regent Jay Knudtson said he thinks lowering incidental fees demonstrates sound fiscal management.

"We made those increases based on what we thought was going to happen in funding. It represents good stewardship," he said.

The governor's withholding left a $1.7 million shortfall in the university's budget. Regents approved a $106.7 million operating budget and $36.8 million in auxiliary operating budgets, both for fiscal year 2015, at their June meeting.

Auxiliary budgets are self-supporting operations that do not receive state funding. They also have to generate revenue to cover their expenses.

The university had planned to make up the shortfall by raising tuition by $3.50 per credit hour and generating an estimated $620,000, dipping into fund balance and delaying raises for faculty and staff. Those raises were supposed to take effect July 1.

Southeast has an average of 1,000 full-time faculty and staff, Mangels said.

For faculty and staff who had had their raises deferred, regents approved a lump-sum payment equal to the amount that was deferred between July 1 and Aug. 31, because raises were taking effect Sept. 1.

Normally, staff members' raises take effect July 1, so salaries had been deferred between July 1 and Aug. 31. Mangels said that would be added to the next paycheck as a lump-sum payment.

The timing depends on whether they're paid monthly or biweekly.

Faculty and administrative professional staff are paid monthly, so the payment will be included in their Sept. 30 payroll, Mangels said.

Those who are paid biweekly, such as the clerical staff, will see their payment Oct. 3.

The estimated cost of this is about $178,000. Mangels noted this was already in the budget, since the budget was created before Nixon's withholding.

On the salary equity study, which took effect Jan. 1 and was based on a study by the J.W. Terrill firm in St. Louis, one of the parameters the board approved was that no individual employee would get a salary adjustment greater than 15 percent, Mangels said.

Southeast contracted with J.W. Terrill in spring of 2013 to conduct a study comparing Southeast faculty and staff salaries to median pay at comparable institutions. The firm polled 18 universities across the Midwest.

For faculty and staff, there were different criteria, but faculty, as part of the equity study, were all supposed to be brought up to between 90 and 93 percent of their market median based on years and rank. The minimum goal was 90 percent of market median, Mangels said.

Staff, depending on years of service, could be brought to between 85 to 95 percent of market median, with the minimum goal of 85 percent.

There was a 15 percent cap, and the unintended consequence was that some faculty and staff were under those minimum percentages for their employee groups, Mangels said.

There are currently five faculty and 10 staff who fall into that category, she said.

This means a newly hired employee could make more than an existing employee.

"So the board action today was to make sure that all current faculty and staff were at least brought up, for faculty to 90 percent of their market median, and for staff, 85 percent of their market median. Again, that would be a salary adjustment that would take place with their contract for the current fiscal year," Mangels said.

"We will make those same adjustments when we calculate their payment for the deferral, so the combined cost with benefits is estimated at $24,650," she said. "That is not budgeted, so we will have to add that into the base budget as the Budget Review Committee does their deliberations for the next fiscal year."

For this year, the cost will be covered with one-time funds, but when the Budget Review Committee starts its work for fiscal year 2016, it will be a known expense.

rcampell@semissourian.com

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