With legislative appropriations decided, university budget matters for the next fiscal year are slated to be discussed at next week’s Board of Regents meeting.

A 3 percent mid-year tuition increase and pay increases for non-teaching professional and scientific staff are planned to be discussed at the meeting, which will take place June 13 and 14 at the Iowa School for the Deaf in Council Bluffs.

Both the tuition increase and the pay increase are considered necessary by ISU administrators and Government of the Student Body officials. The request for a tuition increase came from ISU President Gregory Geoffroy and the presidents of the University of Northern Iowa and University of Iowa. Final action on a tuition increase is planned to be taken at the Regent’s July meeting at Iowa State.

“In looking at the history of state allocations and the current state Iowa State is in, I think some tuition increase is necessary right now,” said Government of the Student Body President Angela Groh. “I don’t like it, but it’s necessary.”

Warren Madden, vice president for business and finance, said a tuition increase is necessary and could help pay for compensation increases for staff.

“The request for the supplemental tuition increase was based upon maintaining competitive salaries as well as providing adequate support to operate our programs and maintain adequate staffing levels,” he said. “Faculty competitive salaries have been a major priority of the university, we would expect those to be in the order of 3 percent.”

Madden said the request for an increase was necessary when the legislature did not fully fund the Regent’s $40 million funding request. He said total compensation increases next year are planned to be about $12 million for faculty and staff.

“The marketplace continues to have pay increases,” Madden said, adding Iowa universities are lagging behind in competitive pay.

Groh said she supports a pay increase to make staff salaries competitive.

“We are at the very bottom of our peer institutions,” she said.

Groh said since 2001, higher education funding from the legislature has been cut more than $100 million, leading to a loss of classes and faculty.

She said she had two concerns with the tuition increase — one, financial aid should be re-allocated next semester to help students cope with the increase and two, she also would like the increase to be for a single semester, meaning it would not be added to the university’s base tuition. Groh said if it were, students would face a total 7 percent increase this year, which is higher then the 4 percent increase dictated by the Board of Regent’s policy for requesting legislative funding.

Barb Boose, communications director for the Board of Regents, said the Board’s policy of requesting state funding, called the Partnership Plan for Transformation and Excellence, supports moderate tuition increases and internal changes to reduce costs and achieve greater efficiency in the universities.

The Regents are also scheduled to discuss funding from the Iowa legislature. The board has not yet discussed or responded to the $24 million increase in state appropriations decided last month — $16 million less then requested.

Boose said this year’s legislative funding could represent a positive trend, as it is the first funding increase since 2001. She said the increase could be, in part, because of legislative support for the Partnership Plan.

The board received $549 million in general appropriations from the legislature in 2001, which was cut to $471.2 million by 2005, Boose said.