FY06 Budget Update

Expenditures

New funding approved last year will cover approximately twenty new faculty positions this academic year. Searches will be conducted throughout FY06 to recruit faculty funded from the increased state support. This year's allocation will be used in anticipation of their arrival to fund future start-up costs, make library acquisitions and upgrade teaching and research space. Non-state funds such as the Curriculum Fee will be used to cover $3 million in additional debt payment costs and to fund other instructional initiatives including instructional technology upgrades to classrooms and the creation of a Learning Commons in the library. New funding has also been approved for key personnel to support the implementation of the capital plan and to increase the custodial workforce. Table II shows the general funds budget by Major Budgetary Unit (MBU) from FY03 to FY06. General Funds are a subset of All Funds data and include primarily state appropriation, retained tuition from out-of-state students, and central student fees. General Funds provide the primary source of revenue for the campus' base budget that sustains the faculty and staff and provides the primary support for teaching and some of the support for the institution's research enterprise.

Additional funding was included in the financial aid budget to ensure that scholarship support keeps pace with rising student fees. Similarly, Athletics received incremental funds to cover the overall increases in scholarships. Utility costs are projected to be 8.4 percent lower in FY06 due to efficiencies achieved through the energy savings program. These savings will be used in the first ten years to pay back the capital lease costs associated with implementing these efficiency measures. Auxiliary operations is bearing a greater share of the utility and lease expenses in FY06. Utility costs will increase in two years when the new steam plant opens and the campus converts from coal to oil and natural gas.

As faculty numbers are replenished, space is being renovated and new buildings constructed. Work will escalate in FY06 on several major new projects: the first student housing in twenty-five years, a large teaching auditorium, a heating plant, an integrated science building, a studio arts building, and a major renovation of Skinner Hall to consolidate the nursing program. Over 89 percent of the cost of the $495 million capital plan is being borne by this campus. Table IV provides a summary look at the five year capital plan. General Fund debt payments total $21.2 million in FY06 and an additional $21.3 million will be transferred from the general funds budget to fund major capital repairs. Projected transfers from Auxiliary operations for capital work total $9 million.

1 | 2 | 3 | next

© 2006 University of Massachusetts Amherst. Site Policies.
This page is maintained by University Advancement Communications.