Southeast regents to discuss tuition increase at Friday meeting

The Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents will discuss a tuition increase at its meeting today.

The university is anticipating an 8.5 percent reduction in state funding for fiscal year 2018, according to board documents.

The university anticipates a $6.1 million budget for FY18.

Southeast’s increase to tuition cannot, by Missouri law, exceed the annual percentage increase in the consumer price index, or CPI, which in 2016 was 0.7 percent, or $1.60 per credit hour.

The board approved this increase but waived assessing the fee in 2016.

For 2017, the board will consider the maximum allowable increase of 2.1 percent, or $4.85 per credit hour.

Current tuition for a Missouri resident undergraduate student is $233 per credit hour, including the general student fee, according to board documents.

The proposed hike would increase totals per credit hour to $239.50 for a resident undergraduate student.

The budget-review committee developed a three-year budget estimate, beginning FY18, to address future budget needs, according to board documents.

This estimate takes into account anticipated reductions in state funding, annual costs of continuing operations and plans for future investment.

Total revenue enhancements for the three-year budget period are projected at $5.17 million.

For FY18, $4.75 million in reductions has been identified. Of these reductions, $921,000 is from adjustments to employee benefits, $1.57 million from reducing personnel costs and $2.24 million in operations-budget reductions.

The budget-review committee and Southeast president Carlos Vargas-Aburto do not recommend salary increases for 2018, according to board documents.

Revenue increases of $2.05 million include tuition increases, increased overhead contributions from auxiliary operations, existing fees exceeding budgets — for example, application fees or installment-payment plan fees — and proposed increases to transcript and orientation fees.

Other expense reductions will be implemented over FY18 and FY19.

The university will eliminate 13 vacant staff positions, close the St. Louis outreach office, reduce institutional-merit scholarships and change employee health-insurance benefits.

The transcript fee would be raised from $7.50 to $10, effective July 1.

This fee last was increased in 2013 and is in the upper-middle range of transcript fees charged by universities in Missouri.

The University of Missouri charges $15, while Northwest Missouri State University charges $5.

Other business

The board also will discuss conferring degrees for spring and summer 2017 and awarding an honorary doctoral degree.

Commencement exercises will be held Saturday at the Show Me Center, with a morning session conferring degrees to candidates in the College of Liberal Arts and the College of Health and Human Services at 10 a.m. and a 2 p.m. ceremony for candidates in the College of Business, College of Education and College of Science, Technology and Agriculture.

Resolutions of honor for retirees, the five-year academic calendar for academic years 2018 to 2022 and an academic program change to delete the Master of Arts in Career Counseling also will be discussed in open session.

In closed session, the board will consider litigation-related items, personnel concerns such as hiring or firing, personnel records and performance ratings and records protected from disclosure by law.

When open session reconvenes, actions taken during closed session will be announced.

The board of regents will meet at 1:30 p.m. today in the Board of Regents Room in Academic Hall on Southeast’s main campus.

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630

Pertinent address:

900 Normal Ave., Cape Girardeau, Mo.

1333 N. Sprigg St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.