Regents Discuss FY10 and FY11 Budgets

The Arizona Board of Regents approved the fiscal year 2011 operating budget requests for the three state universities at its meeting in Flagstaff on Thursday.

The Arizona Board of Regents approved the fiscal year 2011 operating budget requests for the three state universities at its meeting in Flagstaff on Thursday.

The UA's request for $176.6 million will fund enrollment growth, expansions of the College of Medicine-Phoenix and the UA College of Pharmacy, partnership campuses with community colleges, salary adjustments to remain competitive in the marketplace and areas currently paid for by temporary sources.

The budget requests will be forwarded to Gov. Jan Brewer and the Legislature on Oct. 1.

Included in the UA's request are:

• $75 million to bring faculty and staff salaries to market levels.
• $52.8 million to fund operating costs current being paid for with one-time funding, such as stimulus dollars and the temporary tuition surcharge.
• $16.2 million to fund enrollment growth. The UA welcomed a record freshman class of nearly 7,000 students in the fall of 2009, and expects continued growth in the coming year.
• $8.6 million ($7 million for the UA main campus and $1.6 million for the Arizona Health Sciences Center) for an initiative to support faculty recruitment, hiring and retention.
• $1.4 million to support a new network of campuses, to be called UA/Community College Partnership Campuses, that would allow students to access certain UA academic programs away from the UA campus, in their hometowns, at a reduced cost. If funded, it could enable the UA to serve an additional 14,000 students across the state, increasing the University's current enrollment of more than 38,000, by 37 percent, according to the request.
• $12 million to increase the size of faculty in the College of Medicine-Phoenix, which is expected to see its student population increase by 32 percent in 2010.
• $1.5 million in funding for the College of Pharmacy to launch a pharmacogenomics program. The study of how one's genetics affect the body's response to drugs, pharmacogenomics is expected to become an "increasingly critical area of focus for both research and clinical care as ‘personalized medicine' grows in application," the request states.
• $9.1 million to meet increased costs related to utilities, operations and employee benefits.

The regents also approved the three universities' initial all-funds operating budgets for 2010, which include monies from various budget sources, including the state's general fund, tuition dollars and non-state revenue.

The UA's initial 2009-2010 budget for the main campus totals $497,847,100, of which $274,423,100 is from the state's general fund.

The regents approved three-year capital improvement plans for the UA, ASU and NAU.

The first year of the UA's 2011-2013 plan outlines three projects, costing $124.9 million, with funding coming from a combination of sources, including private donations. They are:

• An expansion of Arizona Stadium that will replace aluminum bleachers in the north end zone with 5,000 upgraded seats and add new concessions, restrooms and a new scoreboard, among other improvements.
• A 1.1-mile segment of Tucson's 3.9-mile modern streetcar system will be constructed on campus. It will run from Helen Street and Campbell Avenue through the Warren Avenue underpass and along Second Street to Park Avenue.
• A University warehouse located at 22nd Street and Kino Boulevard will need to be relocated due to the city of Tucson's widening of 22nd Street.

Representatives from The Chartis Group, a national health care consultant specializing in academic medicine, also presented preliminary results of an analysis of the clinical enterprise of the Arizona Health Sciences Center – which includes the UA College of Medicine, University Medical Center and University Physicians Healthcare.