University of �Ӱ�ԭ�� Board of Regents to meet November 5-6

Oct. 30, 2020

The University of �Ӱ�ԭ�� Board of Regents will review and approve the university’s proposed FY22 operating and capital budget requests, consider a proposal that would allow each university to offer different tuition rates and hear a detailed briefing on the important contributions of the two colleges of engineering to the state’s workforce.

On July 1, the university will enter the final year of a 3-year budget compact with the governor. Under the compact, UA has reduced costs by $50 million to date and must reduce by another $20 million in FY22. Interim UA President Pat Pitney will outline the university’s $257 million FY22 state appropriation ($812.3 million total) operating budget request. The proposed budget reflects the required reductions, and a $52.5 million capital budget and 10-year capital improvement plan.

The three chancellors will lead a discussion of potential changes to tuition in 2022. While UAA and UAS are not proposing increases to tuition, �Ӱ�ԭ�� is proposing an increase to upper level tuition as the first stage in transitioning to a differential tuition model with lower tuition for undergraduate and community campus students, and higher tuition for upper level instruction to better reflect the research university’s mission and value.

In other business the board will take an in-depth look at the success of the university’s two engineering programs including data on enrollment, graduation rates and workforce impacts. The data will be amplified by the success story of Ben Kellie, a 2010 �Ӱ�ԭ�� alum, who was a part of the SpaceX launch team and has since returned to �Ӱ�ԭ�� to start his own manufacturing company.

The board also will receive an update on Title IX; an update on a recent fundraising effort that raised more than $600,000 for programs and scholarships; approve actions of board committee decisions during their Oct. 29-30 meetings; elect new board officers; and, approve resolutions of appreciation for members nearing the end of their eight-year terms of service.

The two-day meeting will begin at 8 a.m. on Nov. 5 and conclude by 2 p.m. On Nov. 6, the board will convene at 8 a.m. and conclude by 12:00 noon. The meeting will be held via Zoom and livestreamed at alaska.edu/bor/live. Live captioning is available. Or listen via audio by calling 1-866-832-7806 / pin 8475100. If the toll-free line is busy, please call 1-330-595-1371. The full agenda is at /bor/agendas/.