Trustees approve 2013-2014 budget, tuition and fee increases

During their regular meeting on July 11, 2013, the University of Southern Indiana Board of Trustees approved a $102 million operating budget for the 2013-2014 academic year, as well as an increase in tuition and fees in each of the next two years.

Included was a per-semester credit-hour fee increase for 2013-2014 to $211.93 for Indiana resident undergraduate students; $309.27 for Indiana resident graduate students; $507.09 for non-resident undergraduate students; and $609.84 for non-resident graduate students. The 2014-2015 per-semester credit-hour fee will increase to $221.22 for Indiana resident undergraduate students; $324.84 for Indiana resident graduate students; $532.56 for non-resident undergraduate students; and $640.46 for non-resident graduate students. Also approved was an increase in student fees and other mandatory fees for 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 and laboratory and miscellaneous fees for 2013-2014.

Dr. Kathy Rodgers, chair of the Department of Mathematics, provided an update on the Math Redesign Pilot Program to the Long-Range Planning Committee (renamed the Academic Affairs Committee during the regular meeting).

Mathematics recently teamed up with Academic Skills to pilot a redesign for two intermediate algebra and algebra review. The primary change comes in the delivery of material. Students listen to or watch web-based, pre-recorded lectures from home or campus on their own time. Class time is then spent on course work in a lab setting or working on problems with an instructor.

Goals of the course redesign include increasing student mastery of mathematical concepts and procedures, decreasing the number of semesters spent completing math requirements, and decreasing overall cost.

Steve Helfrich, director of Facility Operations and Planning, provided an update on construction and renovation projects, including the Applied Engineering Center, Teaching Theatre, road redesign project in front of the Physical Activities Center, bookstore, student apartments, new labs in the Liberal Arts Center and Recreation and Fitness Center, and a simulation lab in the Health Professions Center.

A ribbon-cutting for the Applied Engineering Center will be held in mid-September and the renovated USI Campus Store (formerly the USI Bookstore) is expected to open this month.  A topping-off ceremony, in which the last beam is raised, will be held at the construction site for the Teaching Theatre on September 5, the date of the next Board of Trustees meeting.

The board also heard reports from Career Services, Historic New Harmony, and the Diversity Committee.

Meeting materials are posted at www.usi.edu/trustees.