Arkansas Tech University will operate on a balanced budget of $118.7 million during the 2011-12 fiscal year following action by the Tech Board of Trustees during its monthly meeting at the Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center on Thursday.
The budget includes a 6 percent increase in the base tuition rate and mandatory fees for students on the Russellville campus. Undergraduate students paid $170 per student semester credit hour (SSCH) in tuition during 2010-11. That figure will increase to $180 per SSCH in 2011-12. The budget contains no cost of living increase for employees.
“We take the matter of offering great value to our students for their educational dollar seriously,” said Arkansas Tech President Dr. Robert C. Brown. “However, we cannot continue to make progress as a university without the necessary resources. We did not receive any increase in state funding for higher education this year.
“Even in these challenging economic times, Arkansas Tech will continue to grow and prosper,” continued Brown. “We will continue to thrive for the same reasons we have become a comprehensive regional university with unprecedented growth — the excellence of our dedicated and prepared faculty and the work ethic of our student body.”
Tuition at Arkansas Tech-Ozark Campus will increase 10 percent from $70 per SSCH in 2010-11 to $77 per SSCH in 2011-12.
In other business on Thursday, the Arkansas Tech Board of Trustees approved:
*a letter of notification that will be forwarded to the Arkansas Department of Higher Education that states that Arkansas Tech intends to offer a special education instructional specialist option within the Master of Education in elementary education degree in its College of Education beginning in fall 2011;
*a letter of notification that will be forwarded to the Arkansas Department of Higher Education that states that Arkansas Tech intends to make its existing Bachelor of Professional Studies degree available to students entirely through distance learning beginning in spring 2012;
*a transfer of $190,040 from the unappropriated auxiliary fund balance to cover the costs associated with installing lighting at the Chartwells Women’s Sports Complex softball field and at three of the tennis courts at that facility;
*selection of AMR Architects, Inc., of Little Rock to draw preliminary plans for a new academic facility on the Russellville campus;
*a 3 percent increase in meal plan rates on the Russellville campus for the 2011-12 academic year;
*increases of 3.95 percent to 4.19 percent for housing rates in the 15 student housing facilities operated by Arkansas Tech;
*a transfer of $62,109 from the unappropriated educational and general fund balance so that the university can remodel Morton Hall in Russellville to suit the laboratory needs of the occupational therapy assistant program offered by Arkansas Tech-Ozark Campus;
*and a proposal to select JSB Hams, Inc., as the food service provider for Arkansas Tech-Ozark Campus.
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