Due to increased costs across the board, USM students may once again see a tuition increase for the upcoming year. According to Sam Andrews, Chief Financial Officer for the University, the Board of Trustees will vote at their next meeting on a proposal from the USM administration that requests an increase in tuition prices for the 2004/2005 school year. Andrews could not comment on the exact proposal going in front of the Trustees but estimated it to request a 6 percent tuition increase.
The proposal, now being prepared for the Board of Trustees in the Chancellor’s office, was influenced by the recommendations of the University Review Improvement Committee. Ezekiel Kimball, former Student Senate Parliamentarian and newly elected Chair of next year’s Senate, was the only student on the committee. According to Kimball, the goal of the committee was to decide how to maintain or improve the same academic standards of the University without severely increasing tuition.
“With state budgets being under the strain that they currently are and the legislature’s tendency to view higher education as a rainy day fund, the University Review Improvement Committee attempted to save money while maximizing educational proficiency,” said Kimball, “Unfortunately under such constraints tuition may be subject to a raise.”
According to a projected cost and revenue increases chart released by the President’s office, the state is deappropriating $282, 000 from the University budget for next year. The chart cites a number of other cost increases as well. The most significant are an estimated $1.1 million in salary increases for employees and $1.5 million in health care costs. The chart also calls for $544, 000 to be used for student financial aid and student recruitment and retention efforts. The projected total cost increases for next year are just under $4 million. A 6 percent tuition increase along with a predicted 1 percent increase in enrollment will generate roughly $2.5 million, $1.5 million less than the projected increase. According to Chief Financial Officer Sam Andrews, “Transforming USM,” the President’s plan to increase production on campus while minimizing costs, will address the leftover $1.5 million.
The Board of Trustees, the body overseeing the University of Maine System (UMS) that approves or disapproves all tuition and fee increases, has student representation. A student from each college is elected by their respective student governments to a two – year term. The student representative for USM is Ben Meiklejohn, a music major, who in the past was the President of the Student Body while he received a degree from the University of Maine Orono and is also involved in the public school committee in Portland. Meiklejohn was nominated and elected by the 31st Student Senate in October of 2002. He along with the other UMS Student representatives are not allowed to vote on proposals at the Board of Trustees meetings but do have an equal amount of input as the trustees during the discussion.
According to Meiklejohn, the Board of Trustees last year supported a tuition increase for the entire system. At that time, Meiklejohn supported the tuition increase because it seemed to him that the student senate and in turn the student body was in support of it. He has not yet decided if he will or will not support the current proposal because he has not yet been in front of the Student Senate or gotten input from students.
“I don’t think the student senate has debated the subject and I don’t think the student body has reached a consensus,” he said.
Meiklejohn did point out that last year’s increase and this year’s proposed increase are different in the way that last year’s increase was proposed by the Board of Trustees for the entire system while this year’s proposal is derived from the administration at USM.
“I would note that the distinction merits looking into,” he said.
Meiklejohn encourages students to engage in discussion with each other and to pass their opinions on to him or the Student Senate.
“Trustees don’t like to ignore the students,” he said, “I’ve seen students successfully curtail the intent of the administration (and) if I have to go up there to respectfully disagree with the President, I’ll do that.”
Meiklejohn will be attending the next two senate meetings on Fridays, April 30th and May 7th where the possible tuition increase will surely be discussed. Meiklejohn encourages students to go to those meetings or email him at [email protected].
Tyler Stanley can be contacted at [email protected]