University of Wyoming Considers Tuition, Employee Raises
Policies on student tuition and fees, and distribution of state funding for employee pay raises, top the agenda for the March regular meeting of the University of Wyoming Board of Trustees Thursday and Friday, March 27-28.
The meeting begins at 7:30 a.m. Thursday in Room 506 of Coe Library. All meetings are open to the public except for executive sessions.
The business meeting, in which trustees take formal action on agenda items, is scheduled for 4 p.m. Friday. Public testimony will be accepted at 10 a.m. Friday.
The board is scheduled to consider a tuition increase for the 2014-15 academic year, along with discussing the possibility of future increases. At a previous meeting, the trustees discussed a possible 4 percent increase for 2014-15, which would generate about $2 million annually.
Such an increase would be $120 for full-time resident student tuition. In addition, trustees may consider a $91 increase in student fees for 2014-15, meaning the total bill for tuition and fees for full-time residents would rise by $211, from $4,404 to $4,615, in the coming academic year. Even with that increase, UW’s resident undergraduate tuition would remain the lowest among the nation’s 173 public doctoral institutions.
The board is expected to consider a number of uses for increased tuition revenue, including a new student learning management system, library collections, lab equipment and supplies, and student recruitment/retention efforts. Also on the table is the possibility of using a portion of the additional tuition revenue in 2014-15 to augment UW employee pay raises.
After four years of no state funding for UW recurring employee compensation adjustments, the Wyoming State Legislature has appropriated a total of $12.5 million for employee pay raises over the next two years. For the fiscal year starting July 1, 2014, the amount available is $4.15 million. That’s equivalent to an average 2.35 percent increase for all employees.
Trustees will consider a number of options for distributing raises for 2014-15, including using part of the money to provide a base pay increase for employees whose performance is satisfactory, while allocating some for additional merit increases. Money available for merit adjustments could be augmented by excluding some employees -- such as top UW administrators, and employees who have been at the university for less than a year -- from any increases.
The board is not expected to decide this week how to distribute the $8.35 million available for pay raises for the 2015-16 fiscal year.
The policies on pay raises and tuition are slated for discussion by the Board of Trustees at 9 a.m. Thursday, following discussions about state matching funds and the university’s response to actions by the 2014 Legislature. Further discussion on pay raises and tuition is possible Friday afternoon, with action by trustees expected during Friday’s 4 p.m. business meeting.
At 11 a.m. Thursday, the board is scheduled to participate in the grand opening ceremony for the university’s new Literacy Research Center and Clinic in the UW College of Education Annex Building.
At 1:30 p.m. Thursday, trustees plan to meet for an informal conversation with Gov. Matt Mead in Coe Library Room 506. Discussion about UW budget management is on the agenda starting at 2:40 p.m. Thursday.
Highlights of Friday’s agenda include a 9:30 a.m. update on UW’s strategic planning process. At 11 a.m., board members will take part in the annual “Take a Trustee to Class” activity, in which they each attend a class with a UW student.
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