The Missouri State University Board of Governors is expected on Friday to approve the school’s fiscal 2016 budget, which includes funding for staff raises and new positions.
The overall budget for the 2015-16 academic year would be $274 million, an $11 million increase from the current year that ends June 30, according to a news release.
Nearly $4 million of the increased budget would pay for a 1.8 percent pay increase for full-time faculty and staff, as well as other compensation initiatives. Of that funding, $800,000 would be used for new salary positions and $67,300 would go toward an incentive program allowing higher salaries for 10 additional faculty members.
“Increasing compensation for our employees remains a priority both for the board and for my administration,” MSU President Clif Smart said in the release. “We are not where we want to be with salaries yet, but have made good progress and this is yet another positive step forward.”
MSU Chief Financial Officer Stephen Foucart said this morning the largest chunk of the $800,000 would go to the school’s health and human services college, at $221,000. The other funding goes toward the colleges of:
- business, $154,000;
- agriculture, $147,000;
- education, $122,000;
- humanities and public affairs, $117,000;
- natural and applied sciences, $22,000; and
- preparatory classes, $17,000.
Foucart said the individual divisions would determine how best to use the funds.
Piece of the pieDuring its spring session, the Missouri General Assembly approved performance and equity increases for all of the state’s public four-year universities.
According to the release, while the average bump was 1.3 percent, MSU will receive a 1.5 percent increase.
“This is the largest percentile increase for any of the public four-year universities in Missouri this year,” Smart said in the release, noting the university hit its performance measures.
Other additional funding comes from student fees. In March, the board approved an increase to $205 per credit hour from $204 for undergraduate resident tuition and roughly 2 percent bump for out-of-state undergraduate students, as well as graduate students.
The board also gave the green light for a $10 per credit hour increase in online classes and an $11 bump in student services fees, according to the release.[[In-content Ad]]
