TheBoard of Governors of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education will seek a state appropriation of $459 million next year to help fund the operation of the 14 state-owned universities. The request represents an increase of $19.8 million, or 4.5 percent, over the current year’s appropriation.

The System’s overall proposed educational and general budget for the 2003-04 school year totals slightly more than $1.1 billion, an increase of 3.9 percent over the current year’s spending level.

The state appropriation provides slightly less than half of the funds needed to operate the 14 state-owned universities. Student tuition and fees cover most of the rest.

Based on the current budget projections, a tuition increase of approximately $200 likely would be needed to balance the proposed 2003-04 budget. The Board of Governors will not consider next year’s tuition rate until the Spring, after the next fiscal year’s general fund budget, which will include the State System’s appropriation, is approved.

“The State System remains committed to providing a high quality, affordable education to all of our students,” said Board Chairman Charles A. Gomulka. “This appropriation request is reasonable, and necessary.

“Our universities for a number of years have been actively engaged in efforts to improve their efficiency and cost-effectiveness, but, to ensure they also remain competitive and continue to offer an excellent educational experience, they must be adequately funded. This is an investment in Pennsylvania’s future.”

The State System has adopted numerous efforts to ensure the best use of both state funding and the tuition dollars it receives. A recently developed System Accountability Plan is used to evaluate how the universities operate in relation to System goals and a performance funding program first designed three years ago rewards the universities for their performance in several key areas, including student advancement, fiscal management and diversity.

“As Pennsylvania’s public universities, we expect to be held accountable to the citizens of the Commonwealth,” said Chancellor Judy G. Hample. “We also expect the highest level of performance from our universities as they seek to develop today’s students into tomorrow’s leaders.”

In addition to the general appropriation request, the Board of Governors approved several special appropriations requests for the next fiscal year. All are designed to further enhance the students’ educational experience.

The special funding requests are: $15 million for the continued development and implementation of a shared administrative information system, $13.8 million for performance funding, $7 million to enhance academic program quality, $1.8 million for diversity and equal opportunity initiatives and $500,000 for the McKeever Environmental Learning Center.

The State System in early 2001 began to implement a shared administrative information system that is designed to improve services to both students and faculty, to increase operating efficiency at the 14 universities and to produce significant cost savings over the next decade and beyond. All of the universities will migrate to the shared system, which will be supported from a central location. The total cost of the project is estimated at nearly $100 million. The Board of Governors has allocated a total of $25 million in special state funding to the project over the last two years and is requesting an additional $15 million in state funds in 2003-04.

The Board also is seeking to continue to expand its performance funding program, as it moves into its fourth year. Funding for the program has been increased each year and the Board has proposed making an amount equivalent to 3 percent of the state appropriation available in 2003-04.

In order for the System to maintain a competitive edge, it needs to invest in itself and improve its academic quality. The Board is requesting $7 million to support initiatives that will assist in improving the universities’ ability to meet workforce development needs, ensure student success and increase academic quality. These university-based initiatives may include expansion of science and technology programs tied to Pennsylvania workforce needs; new academic program start-up funds; faculty and undergraduate research experiences; accreditation and reaccreditation costs; outcomes assessment; P-16 alignment; the Pennsylvania Academy for the Profession of Teaching and Learning, with a focus on urban education; and a summer enrichment program to complement students’ academic-year experiences.

The Board also is seeking special funding to continue a variety of activities designed to recruit disadvantaged students to System universities and to help expand diversity on the campuses. These activities include joint recruitment activities conducted by admissions personnel, programs to promote an improved campus climate for members of all ethnic minority groups, early outreach activities for members of ethnic minority groups, initiatives for students served under the Americans with Disabilities Act and programs to promote the professional activities of women faculty. This request also includes funding to continue expansion of the nationally acclaimed Partnership Program.

The Commonwealth created the McKeever Environmental Learning Center in 1974 to assist citizens of all ages in becoming better stewards of the earth’s resources. The environ­mental education programs offered by the McKeever Center, which is managed by Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, are designed to meet the needs of students from preschool through, and beyond, college, and provide student interns with valuable teaching experience while working in an outdoor setting. All of the center’s lodging facilities need to be retrofitted with sprinkler systems at an estimated cost of $780,000. The special funding request would support operation of the center and permit the start of a three-year project to install the sprinklers.

With 101,546 students, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth. Its 14 universities offer more than 250 degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study. More than 360,000 System alumni live and work in Pennsylvania.

The state-owned universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. The System also operates branch campuses in Clearfield, Kittanning, Oil City and Punxsutawney and several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg and the University Center for Southwest Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh. The regional centers are part of the Educational Resources Group, which is responsible for coordinating statewide programming.