The University of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ will spend $1.1 billion next school year in a budget that calls for employee raises, more faculty and more fundraisers to counteract a slump in donations to the school.
The spending plan, fueled in part by a near $16 million increase in state funding, was approved unanimously in Flagstaff on Thursday by the board that oversees ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s public universities.
The UA’s total net income will increase by $120 million in the 2017 school year that starts July 1, budget documents submitted to the ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Board of Regents revealed. Much of the money comes from sources other than the state: About $67 million, for example, is from increases to tuition and fees.
The budget includes:
- $9.5 million for raises for UA employees, Southern ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s largest workforce.
- Another $6.2 million for “retention and recruitment†— to include additional pay hikes for employees deemed underpaid compared to peer schools.
- $14.8 million to hire extra faculty and support staff in areas with increased enrollment.
- $7.1 million for UA facilities including upgrades to its information technology infrastructure.
- $4.7 million to increase the UA’s fundraising capacity by hiring more development officers. The budget assumes that private gifts to the school will decline by $8.7 million in the coming school year, a decrease of 9.6 percent.
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Items supported by the extra state funds include $8 million for the UA’s new veterinary medicine program and $2 million for the Center for the Philosophy of Freedom, a think tank created to promote “the understanding and appreciation of the ideals of freedom.â€
The new budget was developed with input from student leaders and representatives of UA employee groups, university officials said.
