ISU hoping for $64 million to renovate and expand college of nursing building

The House Ways and Means 2015-17 budget bill includes $64 million for ISU’s capital budget request. The project also was included in the Commission for Higher Education’s recommendation to the legislature and the governor’s budget proposal.

“We are well on our way toward making history at Indiana State University as this would be the largest state-funded project in the university’s history,” ISU President Dan Bradley told trustees Friday. “It is a testament of support for Indiana State from our state leaders, who continue to express gratitude for how we are fulfilling our mission.”

He thanked legislators who have worked to advance the project including, representatives Bob Heaton, Clyde Kersey and Alan Morrison as well as State Sen. Jon Ford. 

While it’s not a done deal, “We’re as optimistic as we can be at this point,” Bradley said after the meeting. “It’s all sounding pretty positive.”

The college of Nursing, Health and Human Services, located on the west part of campus between Fourth and Fifth streets, is growing in terms of enrollment and academic programs. It currently is spread out all over campus in various facilities, and the new plan would allow for all but one department to be housed under one roof.

The current building was built in two phases in 1961 and 1985 and has undergone no renovations or updates since then. 

The House Ways and Means version of the state budget also includes more new money for higher education, which means ISU’s loss in appropriation would be slightly less than the budget proposed by the Commission and considerably less than the budget proposed by the governor. ISU’s operating appropriation would be reduced by $1.6 million under the House version ($1.5 million in 2015-16 and an additional $156,960 in 2016-17).

The reduction is the result of performance-based performance measures, which heavily emphasize on-time degree completion (where students complete bachelor degrees in four years). The budget has passed out of House Ways and Means and next goes before the full House.

Prior to the business portion of the trustees’ meeting, Bob Guell, faculty senate chairman, addressed concerns about how ISU uses enrollment projections to develop its budget. Since 2012, it has been using a “97 percent rule” to budget revenues; it projects the next year’s enrollment, and budget revenue, based on a conservative estimate that enrollment will be 97 percent of the average of the past three years.

Guell argues that because of growing enrollments in recent years, the 97 percent rule “has resulted in a massive 13 percent under-estimation in enrollment and equally massive $13.5 million or 20 percent underestimation in tuition revenue.”

Faculty Senate officers “have objected to this methodology,” he said. They would like to see a budget that more accurately forecasts enrollment and revenues, and then the university can set aside an appropriate financial reserve.

 “This would add to transparency,” Guell said during the meeting. “I would argue that limiting the deployment of resources to meet student needs until the very last moment, when classes are nearly full, inhibits thoughtful advising of those students and properly chosen, properly-staffed and properly-timed classes.”

The current budget process “is causing us to cut budgets that don’t need to be cut,” he said after the meeting. 

Guell added, “I don’t think nefarious things are being done with the money. This president (Bradley) has a high degree of integrity.” Guell said he wants to ensure his colleagues and others better understand the process and how they money is used.

Diann McKee, vice president for business affairs, said the university has historically budgeted conservatively to help offset swings in state appropriations or enrollment declines. It allows for better planning, she said, and that approach helps cushion any enrollment declines.

”We work closely with the Faculty Senate and will continue to do so” in planning for next year’s budget, she said. 

By using that model, ISU has been able to add $8 million to the budget “above and beyond what we normally would” and it is projected to add another $5 million to future budgets. “We are adding additional dollars into the budget through enrollment growth,” she said.

Those funds are used for such things as adjunct faculty, student scholarships, academic affairs initiatives and student success efforts, she said.