June 3, 2008

For the last four months the university community has received weekly budget updates from President Modesto A. Maidique. The updates have served to keep the entire university community abreast of developments locally and in Tallahassee that affect the future of our university. We believe that timely information on a topic of such critical importance benefits the entire community and helps to continue the university's forward momentum.

These updates are sent to our students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors, FIU Board of Trustees, Foundation Board of Directors, President's Council, Alumni Association Board, select media, elected officials and other interested parties.

Now that the legislative session has ended and our Board of Trustees has made decisions with regard to cuts and program closures, these budget updates will go to a monthly schedule unless new developments warrant more frequent communication. Please look for future updates on the first Thursday of the month.

Since President Maidique is out of town this week, Provost Ronald Berkman has provided this week’s update.
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In This Issue:

Dear members of the university community:

This is the last of a series of weekly budget updates President Maidique has shared over the past few months. From now on, unless the circumstances call for more frequent communication, these updates will come to you on the first Thursday of each month.

On Monday July 7 our Board of Trustees will hold a special meeting via conference call to consider raising tuition. As you know, we have been authorized by the State Legislature to charge a tuition differential based on criteria related to our high research activity. The bill caps the tuition increase at 15 percent per year. The Legislature and Board of Trustees have already increased undergraduate tuition 6 percent, which leaves our Board to decide whether to raise undergraduate tuition up to an additional 9 percent.

Additional tuition revenues certainly will not bridge our considerable budget gap, but increased tuition is a welcome development in these tough budget times. Differential tuition does not apply to most of our students initially, but in time it will become a significant source of funding for us. This year it could add as much as $2 million to our budget.

The tuition dollars would go toward the enhancement of advising services, hiring undergraduate faculty and other critical measures that will improve the quality of undergraduate instruction and support services. The 9 percent increase would affect only those students who enrolled after July 1, 2007, and would not impact students who had prepaid contracts in effect before that date.

Our entire financial team continues to work on evolving budget issues. As reported earlier by Dr. Maidique, several weeks ago we learned that we would receive only 96 percent of our already slashed budget. Therefore, our General Revenue cut has been increased by 4 percent. We will continue to update our dedicated budget web site, where you can find frequently asked questions, presentations and all of the previous budget updates. http://president.fiu.edu/budget_qa.html

Also, please note that today’s Miami Herald includes a column by Dr. Maidique where he explains to the South Florida community the philosophy behind the changes we have made at FIU as a result of this budget crisis. We want to assure everyone that FIU remains on track to become a leading public research university and we will continue to offer our community a quality education at an affordable price. http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/other_views/story/592150.html

Please continue to send your feedback to President Maidique at presmail@fiu.edu

Have a good and safe 4th of July weekend!

Ronald Berkman
Executive Vice President and Provost