The UM System Board of Curators Finance and Audit Committee unanimously approved its$2.5 billion Fiscal Year 2009 operating budget today. The entire board will vote to approve it on Friday.
The budget showed changes from April to May primarily because of expected enrollment changes for the fall semester. MU announced on May 7 that it was expecting record enrollment, up 26 percent from the same time last year.
The increased amount of expected tuition and fees brought the net total to $400.8 million in student fees and $2,495.7 million in total revenues. Total expenditures also slightly increased, netting at $2,385.3 million. That brings the total change in net assets to $110.4 million for the UM System.
Also affecting the budget in the last month was the end to the legislative session. State appropriations in the budget went down $9.1 million because the General Assembly did not fund the Preparing to Care initiative or ranked faculty compensation.
In a discussion earlier in the meeting, when the board held a brief information session on the FY 2010 operating budget, UM System President Gary Forsee said prioritizing needs and requests to the state legislature could help more in receiving more funding.
“I’m not comfortable right now with how we deliver the message to the General Assembly on the overall budget process,” Forsee said.
Curator Bo Fraser agreed: “We need to make sure what we take to the legislature are our very top priorities.”
The FY 2009 operating budget and all other board documents can be found here.
