Florida Board of Governors

02/10/2011

ACTIONS TAKEN: Meeting of the Budget & Finance Committee, Florida Board of Governors Feb. 10 in Orlando

Notes to media:
• All back-up information on each proposal are posted through a “meeting materials” link from the home page: www.flbog.edu.
• All of these items move to the next Board of Governors full meeting, on an agenda at the discretion of the Board Chair – either the Feb. 17 conference call meeting or the March 23-24 meeting of the Board of Governors to be held in Tallahassee.

Market Tuition Rate Graduate Courses Jan 2011

The eight members of the Budget & Finance Committee of the Board of Governors took the following actions Feb. 10 in Orlando:

2010 STUDENT LIFE FACILITIES SURVEY REPORT
Based on proviso language in the 2010 Session (+ excerpted below), Board of Governors budget staff presented a staff report regarding student life facilities in the System. The inventory and recommendations were coordinated with the close assistance of university vice presidents for student affairs, university facility planners, student government representatives and others. The Legislature intended to have information regarding the ability of the Capital Improvement Trust Fund (CITF) to meet System-wide facility demands in the future. The fee that funds the CITF has not been increased for more than 20 years, and the universities have had backlogged demands with general overall enrollment growth System-wide of 2-3 percent annually. If the fee had been increased with the cost of inflation, it would have increased about $8 in that interim time. The issue has been on the Board’s legislative agenda in the past.

The committee voted to approve recommending adding a $1.00 optional increase (and pursuing the necessary housekeeping statutory change) as an issue to the Board of Governors’ 2011 legislative agenda. This would amend Section 1009.24 F.S. to provide financing for student life facilities, primarily through bonding mechanisms. If passed by the Legislature, each university Board of Trustees would then, should they choose, voluntarily take up the matter for their respective universities toward respective future campus projects and then submit the traditional, comprehensive financing proposal package to the Board of Governors for a proposed building project.

The survey found that significant needs exist for new student life facilities and the renovation or replacement of many existing facilities. Parking and housing demand should be reasonably met by the existing financing framework and process. However, the demand for student facilities – such as student unions, recreational fields, wellness centers and cafeterias, estimated at more than $650 million – will not be met within the existing financing framework and bonding availability.

(+ “… the Board of Governors shall conduct a needs assessment survey of the State University System of student life facilities and develop recommendations to address unmet renovation or new facility needs identified by the survey. The recommendations shall specifically consider the impact of existing policies, statutory provisions, and regulations in meeting these needs and the unique challenges of smaller institutions or branch campuses.”)

STUDENT FEES
The 2010 governance agreement signed between the Legislature and the Board of Governors tasked the Board with review and authorization for any new student fees and increases to certain existing student fees; up to this point, the Legislature has determined student fees. This is the first such exercise of the Board reviewing any proposed student fees, which first must be approved by the respective universities’ Boards of Trustees. Seven of 11 institutions in the System are requesting a total of nine new or increased student fees. The proposals from the universities to be considered at the Feb. 10 meeting are below. Current fees include athletic, health, activities & services, as well as technology and financial aid (both of which can be no more than 5 percent tuition). Today, the committee utilized the guidelines in its regulation put in place in 2010 during the extensive and collaborative rule-making process after the governance agreement was signed with the Legislature. The Board of Governors’ regulation outlines that any proposals must include the following: detailed purpose of the fee; demonstrated student-based need that is not being met through another service or fee; process used to ensure student input when it was voted on by the university Board of Trustees; financial impact on students; accountability measures to track the usage of the fee; proposed restrictions or limitations placed on the fee; and estimated revenue and proposed expenditures. (A list of current student fees by university is located on the web site at – http://www.flbog.edu/about/budget/current.php.)

Revenue from these fees cannot be transferred to secured debt and are not bondable. Every five years, the university Boards of Trustees must review any fee it has in place. For the proposals today that did not secure the committee’s recommendation and/or may not be approved by the full Board of Governors, there is an appeal process. See the PowerPoint overview presentation for this and other additional important context, data and background about student fees: http://www.flbog.edu/pressroom/meeting_items.php?id=138&agenda=5122. (Click on #1 – Presentation for opening remarks & PowerPoint).

Pursuant to the request by Committee Chair Tico Perez of Orlando, every university requesting a new or increased fee at this Feb. 10 meeting had both at least one Student Government representative and the University President (or his/her designee) at the table for the committee’s deliberations, to present the proposal and field questions, which were numerous for each proposal.

The Committee Chair is Tico Perez of Orlando. The Chair may vote to break or create a tie.
The Committee Vice Chair is Dick Beard of Tampa.
Committee Members: Ann Duncan of Tampa, Gallop Franklin (Florida Student Association President) of Tallahassee, Mori Hosseini of Daytona Beach, Stanley Marshall of Tallahassee, John Rood of Jacksonville, and Norman Tripp of Boca Raton.

University Fee Amount (per credit hour unless noted)

1. USF Green Energy Fee $1.00
Action Taken: Recommended for approval by a vote of 3-1.

Duncan – absent for vote
Franklin – Yes
Hosseini – absent for vote
Rood – No
Marshall – Yes
Beard – Yes
Tripp – absent for vote

2. USF Global Experience Fee $10.00/semester
Action Taken: Not recommended for approval by a vote of 4-1.

Duncan - absent for vote
Franklin – No
Hosseini – absent for vote
Rood – No
Marshall – Yes
Beard – No
Tripp – No

3. NCF Sustainability "Green" Fee $1.00
Action Taken: Recommended for approval by a vote of 3-2.

Duncan – absent for vote
Franklin – Yes
Hosseini – absent for vote
Rood – No
Marshall – Yes
Beard – Yes
Tripp – No

4. FGCU Recreation $4.49*
Action Taken: Voted to defer this item to the full Board of Governors.
The proposal included a corresponding reduction in FGCU’s Activity & Services Fee. The university is attempting to increase its bonding capacity in the existing eligible fee through creating this new fee. The committee has requested additional legal-related and legislative intent-related research and voted to send this item to the full Board of Governors for further consideration.


5. UWF Student Life & Services Facility Improvement - $4.00
Management - $10.00/semester

Final action taken: Voted to defer this item to the full Board of Governors.
The committee has requested additional legal-related and legislative intent-related research and voted to send this item to the full Board of Governors for further consideration.

First motion (to recommend approval) failed, as Chair made the tie:
Duncan – absent for vote
Franklin – Yes
Hosseini – absent for vote
Marshall – Yes
Rood – No
Tripp – Yes
Beard – No
Perez – No

Second motion made, to defer to the full Board of Governors. Passed as indicated above.


6. UWF Orientation Fee (one-time) Increase from $35.00 to $50.00
Action Taken: Recommended for approval by a vote of 4-1.

Duncan – absent for vote
Franklin – No
Hosseini – absent for vote
Marshall – Yes
Rood – Yes
Tripp – Yes
Beard – Yes

7. UNF Student Life & Services $4.78
Action Taken: Recommended for approval by a vote of 5-0.

Duncan – absent for vote
Franklin – Yes
Hosseini – absent for vote
Marshall – Yes
Rood – Yes
Tripp – Yes
Beard – Yes

8. FSU Student Safety & Security $0.97
Action Taken: Not recommended for approval by a vote of 3-3.

Motion to recommend approval failed, as Chair made the tie:
Duncan – absent for vote
Franklin – Yes
Hosseini – absent for vote
Marshall – Yes
Rood – No
Tripp – No
Beard – Yes
Perez – No

9. FIU Test Preparation Varies (see proposal)
Action Taken: Recommended for approval by a vote of 5-0.

Duncan – absent for vote
Franklin – Yes
Hosseini – absent for vote
Marshall – Yes
Rood – Yes
Tripp – Yes
Beard – Yes

MARKET-RATE TUITION FOR CERTAIN GRADUATE-LEVEL ON-LINE OR CONTINUING EDUCATION COURSES:
A PILOT PROJECT OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS, AS TASKED BY THE LEGISLATURE AND AS AUTHORIZED BY STATUTE
See separate fact sheet (attached) regarding the recent amendment to the Board regulation governing this item, which is an issue the Legislature placed in statute in 2010 for the Board to offer to universities, in order to provide budgeting flexibility, student access to additional course offerings, national competitiveness for Florida’s public universities and other reasons. See the proposals spreadsheet for a quick reference sheet about each program’s current tuition, proposed market-tuition rate, current enrollment numbers, and other data. All full proposals are posted on the web site www.flbog.edu in the package of meeting materials. Amid the highlights in the fact sheet (attached), the Board of Governors instituted a pilot program whereby each university could voluntary propose up to five eligible graduate programs per academic year for three years. Market-rate tuition degree offerings cannot supplant current on-campus offerings, which provide a different level of student access. There will be annual reports to the Board of Governors for tracking purposes, and the entire pilot project will be reviewed by the Board of Governors in three years. Four universities are seeking approval to have market-rate tuition for a total of 17 graduate-level on-line academic degree programs.

The committee voted unanimously with a quorum present to approve all of the following market-rate tuition offerings:

FIU Master of International Business
Master in Global Governance
Master of Accounting Program
Master of Public Health withdrawn
Master of Business Administration

FSU Master of Social Work*
Master in Library & Information Studies*
Master in Management with major in Risk Management and Insurance
Master in Management Information Systems
Master in Business Administration
*Market-rate tuition would apply to non-resident students only.

UF Master in Outreach Engineering Program
Master of Business Administration
Pharmaceutical Sciences Clinical Doctorate
Doctor of Audiology
Master in Pharmaceutical Sciences

UCF Professional Master of Science in Management Degree Program
Master in Business Administration (Executive & Professional)
Professional Master of Science in Real Estate Degree Program

All individual proposals from the universities for any Board of Governors committee meeting action item above are all posted from the link on the home page of the Board of Governors’ web site: www.flbog.edu.

3. UNDERGRADUATE TUITION OUTLOOK (NOTES FROM THE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR ON TIMING ISSUES AND WHAT’S AHEAD)

While the 11 universities have authority and discretion to set graduate-level tuition (with the recent exception of market-rate tuition for certain on-line courses, and out-of-state tuition), there is a different process for undergraduate tuition. The Legislature sets the “base” tuition rate per credit hour each year, and Florida Statutes outline the provisions and guiding principles for what’s referred to as a “tuition differential” fee, which universities can voluntarily pursue each year. The “base” set by the Legislature combined with the “differential” asked for by any university cannot together exceed 15 percent total per year. At least 30 percent of any “differential” approved must be dedicated to need-based financial aid to students at that university.

The Board of Governors considers “differential” requests individually from each university after Session and after the State budget is signed into law. If a university Board of Trustees approves a tuition differential proposal, it will be reviewed by the Board of Governors, which takes into consideration a full compendium of issues, including the base rate as set by the Legislature, all current or pending university student fees at that university and any similar items.

The Board of Governors is scheduled take up differential requests at its June meeting [Budget & Finance Committee meeting, and then the full Board, June 22-23, Tampa]. The June meeting also includes a simultaneous review of the respective universities’ “work plans” and how their respective four-year non-binding forecasts on undergraduate tuition correspond to their goals and plans regarding future baccalaureate degrees to be awarded. Universities have a deadline of May 23 to submit their proposals to the Board.

Please note that the Legislature historically has assumed a 15 percent increase in undergraduate tuition when building its budget – combining a hypothetical base and the differential to the maximum cap across the board.