|
|
UWRF Budget Backgrounder
Aug. 28, 2007 • UWRF will begin classes on Wednesday, Sept. 5, with another projected record enrollment of 6,350 students. Last year's record was 6,229. • The campus is operating on last year's budget. The current fiscal year started July 1; however, the Wisconsin Assembly and Senate are separated about $10 billion dollars. Four legislative leaders from each chamber comprise a Conference Committee that is negotiating the difference. • The Wisconsin State Senate and the bipartisan Joint Committee on Finance essentially agreed to the budget recommendations of Gov. Jim Doyle for the UW System and UW-River Falls. • The Wisconsin Assembly made substantial reductions to the UWS/UWRF budget in the version it passed. This includes: • A reduction in Wisconsin Higher Education Grant funding. Presently, 195 UWRF students are unsure whether they will have these essential grants with the start of school next week. The shortfall to those students is $400,000. Some are at risk of delaying their education with the uncertainty of their financial status. • A cut to UWRF's operational budget of $2.8 million from "costs to continue," which includes funding the last biennial budget's salary increases, utilities and debt service. Both Chambers have agreed to provided $211,300 in tax dollars to support the "Growth Agenda" freshman retention experience. One way of appreciating this is to note that that for every $1 the Assembly budget would take out of UWRF's operating budget, it would return just 7.5 cents. • For comparison, UWRF received $3.8 million in cuts over the past 5 years. • South Fork Suites expansion. The Assembly did not support funding this 240-bed addition, although students have agreed to pay the entire cost through user fees. • With the start of classes some 200 students will live in temporary housing in study areas and lounges. Campus housing has asked another 200 students who want to live on campus to find alternative housing. • Parents, particularly of female students, prefer the safety and convenience of on-campus housing. * This year's housing shortage is in the wake of the campus having opened an additional 240 beds just two years ago in South Fork Suites. |
  
|