ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ

For Immediate Release
Tuesday, June 2, 2009

The University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ Board of Regents will gather on the Fairbanks campus Thursday and Friday to approve the FY10 campus budgets following recent legislative action. Also up for approval are a number of new academic programs, including special education teacher training, nutrition and dietetics.

This meeting will be the first for the new student regent, Ashton Compton of Fairbanks. Compton is a University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ Fairbanks political science major. The two-day meeting will take place in Room 109 of the Butrovich Building.

State appropriations to the 16-campus university system--including general fund, workforce development funds and mental health trust general funds--total $328.2 million. Included on the university’s budget sheet is $2.5 million of essentially pass-through money to pay for a National Guard tuition scholarship, previously funded in the Department of Military and Veterans’ Affairs budget; and money to run a residency program at Providence ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ Medical Center. UA’s total budget, including tuition revenue, federal grants and university generated receipts, totals $823.2 million for the fiscal year starting July 1.

State money included nearly $2 million for two of the board’s top priorities--health academic programs throughout the UA system, and energy research and outreach through ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ.

Also up for formal board action is distribution of $3.2 million in capital money, compared to $542 million requested. Most of that money would have funded deferred maintenance, now at an estimated $800 million. The $3.2 million will go toward facility maintenance based on a formula.

Among academic programs under consideration are a post-baccalaureate certificate in K-12 special education licensure and a master’s degree program in special education, both at ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ; bachelor’s degrees in nutrition and dietetics, both at UAA; and bachelor’s degrees in geography and environmental studies at the University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ Southeast.

Regents will attend a reception with Denali Commission members at ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ’s Georgeson Botanical Gardens Thursday evening. On Friday, they’ll lunch on Angus beef and potatoes from the ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station’s Matanuska Farm. Members of the public may testify at 10 a.m. on Thursday and 9 a.m. on Friday. For a complete look at the board’s agenda, go to .

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NR12-09