a.
Financial
Picture
• State appropriations are approximately the same in
absolute dollars now as ten years ago—a striking comment on public
disinvestments.
• More than 2/3 of the UO’s instructional budget
is now provided by tuition and fees.
• Overall, the UO will have an education and general
operating budget that is close to being balanced for the FY 2003-2005 biennium.
Student numbers are expected to be slightly higher than last year.
• Expectations from the governor for proposals in the
upcoming legislative session are positive and hopeful.
b.
Salary
Increases for next biennium
• The governor is on record as supporting a salary
increase in the next biennial budget.
This will cover all employees although there is no detailed information
available at this time, and the results of the collective bargaining process
will determine the amount for employees covered by these agreements.
• The governor has requested that all state agencies
cover the increased costs of health insurance benefits through calendar year
2005. The State Board has agreed
to cover this per the governor’s request and there will be no additional
cost to the employees for health insurance coverage through calendar year 2005.
• Enrollment at the University of Oregon is expected
to increase to more than 20,200 this fall, according to preliminary
projections. This is nearly 200
more than last year and includes a robust number of transfers. Both resident and non-resident numbers
are up, demonstrating that we increasingly are a magnet for quality
students. The final student
profile will be available in early November.
• SAT scores for newly enrolled freshmen are
predicted to be the highest in UO history.
• Enrollment will show a slight increase compared to
last fall’s 20,033 students.
• Careful planning and strategic course management
are allowing the university to provide access to classes and to services for
students at the anticipated level of enrollment despite funding
limitations. I thank all faculty
and staff for their efforts in making last minute adjustments to meet the
academic and service needs of our students.
• In 1990 the state provided 32% of the UO's total
budget, and tuition accounted for 23%.
• In the current year the state portion was 13
percent, and tuition accounted for 33%.
• The remainder is made up of grants and contracts,
as well as auxiliary funds, which have both increased significantly.
• When we compare 1994-1995 to 2004-2005
(a ten year span): overall full-time undergraduate tuition and fees have
increased more than 160%.
“Some may think that on occasions such as
today’s, the president-to-be should appear unshaven and unkempt, descending
from a high mountain peak bearing freshly inscribed tablets, or emerging
red-eyed from a vast desert in flowing robes . . . proclaiming in the gravelly
cry of the prophet that we have lost our path, and must be guided by an exalted
new vision.
“This might seem,” I said, “especially
important now, when critics of higher education have sharpened their knives,
thrusting and cutting at the efficiency, relevancy and values of our academy.
“But today,” I added, “I offer no
Utopian vision of a vastly different university. I do not think we need
one. Ours is an ancient
enterprise, refined and proven through the tests of two millennia. The worth of our great modern research
universities like this is reckoned over and again in the currency of great
teaching, invaluable research, and outstanding public service.
“We do not need,” I stated then,
“a different university. But we must constantly dedicate ourselves to the
development of a better one.”
We do not need a different university. But we must
constantly dedicate ourselves to the development of a better one.
I believe, in the past ten years we have done that.
It has not been easy.
It has not been simple. It
has not been everything we wanted.
• Our federal grant figures are becoming impressive,
having doubled in the past decade, with researchers earning a record $90.2
million in contracts, grants and other competitive funding in 2003-04, a 16
percent increase over the previous year and a 56% jump in just three years.
“ . . . this university has been an enduring
source of inspiration and renewal in my life, and in the lives of my loved
ones. I love not only the beauty of these emerald acres, not merely the stones
and bricks of its architecture, but the memories, dreams and hopes that give
life to our vibrant and eternal spirit. I pledge that this great university and
those people who give it sustenance and meaning will continue to have my most
profound and continuing affection.
“Having so pledged, it remains only for me to
ask you all now to join me in continuing to build, in continuing to nurture,
and in continuing to celebrate this great enterprise, this heritage, and this
promise, our University of Oregon.”
Web page spun on 9 November 2004 by Peter B Gilkey 202 Deady Hall, Department of Mathematics at the University of Oregon, Eugene OR 97403-1222, U.S.A. Phone 1-541-346-4717 Email:peter.gilkey.cc.67@aya.yale.edu of Deady Spider Enterprises |