Miami trustees set tuition for 2011-2012, extend president's contract

Miami University trustees voted June 24 to increase Miami’s tuition and fees for 2011-2012 by 3.5 percent for Oxford campus undergraduates from Ohio, and by 3 percent for out-of-state students, bringing in-state tuition to $12,625, and out-of-state tuition to $27,797. Graduate tuition will also rise 3.5 percent.

Miami anticipates a decrease in state support of 17.4 percent, or $11.5 million, next year for the Oxford campus.

Tuition and fees at the Hamilton and Middletown campuses will be $4,757 for first- and second-year students, and $7,228 for upper-class students, both increases of 3.5 percent. Out-of-state surcharges for study at the regional campuses will decrease by about 21 percent and 18 percent, for lower division and upper division study.

Citing extraordinary leadership during challenging times, board chair Don Crain announced the board reached an agreement for a new five-year contract that keeps David Hodge as Miami University’s president through June 2016. There is no increase in base salary. In fact, Crain noted the president’s leadership during the previous years when the budget did not allow for staff raises, and Hodge declined an additional 20 percent of income in salary, bonus and deferred compensation for which he was otherwise contractually entitled.

Trustees adopted a $634,773,030 operating budget, which includes a 2-percent raise for faculty and staff – the first raise in three years. It was a goal of year-long university-wide strategic planning that enabled a raise to be a part of the 2011-2012 budget.

Distinguished professor designations were declared, effective with the 2011-2012 academic year. Provost Bobby Gempesaw cited the scholarly and teaching accomplishments of Michele Gingras, named Distinguished Professor of Music and John Z. Kiss, named Distinguished Professor of Botany. More information on Gingras and Kiss are online.

Trustees approved the award of contracts for the Armstrong Student Center - Phase One project with a total construction budget not to exceed $37,400,000. Half of the design, construction and operations will be paid for by a student fee beginning when the building opens in early 2014. The other half, plus early costs, will be covered by donations, for which $26 million has been pledged toward the $30 million dollar goal.

In other actions, trustees also

• approved completion of design with a design budget not to exceed $2.3 million and award of contracts not to exceed $20.9 million for construction of the Maplestreet Station project on Maple Street, at the west side of the band practice field.
• approved the award of contracts for the central campus chilled water project with a total construction budget not to exceed $2.4 million.
• authorized the expenditure of design and development costs up to $4.8 million for the Western Campus Residence and Dining Halls project, as part of a long-range capital plan, to cover developing the project plans, receiving construction bids, and arranging project funding.
• authorized the expenditure of design and development costs up to $1.75 million for the Morris-Emerson-Tappan Quadrangle Residence Hall project, as part of a long-range capital plan.
• appointed the university archivist as the university records manager responsible for the records management program and adopted a records management mission statement regarding purpose of insuring proper scheduling, storage and disposal of university records.
• modified an affiliation agreement between the university and Miami University Foundation to allow the foundation to act as the trustee for the management and investment of the university's endowment and quasi-endowment funds;
• authorized moving $881,000 from unrestricted funds to the Miami University Fund for fiscal year 2010-2011.
• approved emeritus rank for retired faculty and staff.