OU board approves FY2012 budget designed to protect program quality

The Oakland University Board of Trustees has approved a general fund budget for the 2012 fiscal year.

Facing a 15-percent cut in state funding that equates to $7.6 million, the university also faces the challenge of rising operating costs. Despite this, university officials have maintained a commitment to keep all-in, resident undergraduate tuition below the state average.

Helping make this possible is the fact that the university has identified $42 million in annual and one-time cost savings in recent years. In addition, an increase in budget expenditures for the coming year has been limited to 3.8 percent, excluding financial aid programs.

Students eligible for financial assistance will benefit from a 7 percent increase in institutional aid, which amounts to $1.7 million. This funding will help maintain Oakland’s Student Full Aid Guarantee, Economic Hardship Fund, Merit Scholarships and Summer Campus Corps.

Additional budget expenditure increases are tied to program improvements, compensation and other measures geared toward maintaining and enhancing the quality of OU’s programs.

As a result of a campus-wide budget reduction exercise, $3.3 million has been trimmed from other areas of the budget. The budgets of the college, schools and library, however, were spared from cuts in expenditures.

In order to support Oakland’s overall budget strategy, the Board of Trustees has approved undergraduate and graduate tuition increases of 7 percent for FY2012. This falls within the governor’s threshold for the state’s Tuition Restraint Incentive.

Though some board members and students expressed regret that tuition was being raised, all acknowledged that this step was necessary in order to protect the quality of academic programs and to continue offering students the distinctive educational experience Oakland provides.