The State Board of Regents approved Iowa State’s budget for fiscal year 2000 at their meeting in Ames last week.

The meeting was held last Wednesday and Thursday at the Memorial Union.

The regents approved ISU’s $748.8 million budget for the coming year. The amount of funds budgeted is a 4.8 percent increase from the 1999 budget.

Regent Ellengray Kennedy said the purpose of the increase is two fold.

“Some of that is for inflation and some of that is new initiatives,” she said.

Regent Clarkson Kelly, Jr. said much of the cause for the increase is the cost of new technology.

“The regent universities all have the same problems of increasing prices, and we have a big problem with technology. It keeps getting replaced every few years, but you have to try and keep up,” he said.

The universities also use part of their budgets for new classes and programs, he said.

“Everybody wants to start new courses. In Ames, they want to start a new course in administration in nonprofit areas,” Kelly said.

“They’re starting new courses on the diseases that occur in animals and can be transferred into humans. That department is being expanded and, hopefully, will be the best department in the world in that area,” he said.

The board is trying to help ISU become a better university, he said.

“All we’re trying to do is have the best possible education we can give.,” he said. “It takes a lot of money to get the very best teachers and education that we can get.”

Kelly said the bulk ISU’s budget is funded by tuition, state appropriations, gifts and grants.

A yearly budget first is suggested by the university. Next, it goes in front of the Board of Regents and then the Iowa Legislature. Finally, the governor has an opportunity to pass or reject the budget.

The regents did not spend a long time debating at the meeting, he said.

“There wasn’t any big fussing, there weren’t any disagreements, and I don’t think anything was turned down,” he said.

In other board action the regents approved:

• The creation of an interdepartmental graduate minor in complex adaptive systems and an interdepartmental graduate major in bioinformatics and computational biology.

• A move from seven animal science graduate program majors to five. The measure would discontinue the majors of animal production, muscle biology, nutritional physiology and physiology of reproduction, and would create a new major, animal science, and a modified new major, animal physiology. Animal breeding would be changed to animal breeding and genetics.

• A graduate program name change in the College of Business. The business administrative sciences major was changed to master of science in business, to avoid confusion with the master of business administration degree.

• A measure to proceed with project planning for Hilton Coliseum and project planning and architect selection for the College of Business building.

• A schematic design of Beardshear Hall remodeling, the project description and budget for a conservatory at Reiman Gardens and the project description and budget for a telecommunications plant systems upgrade.

• The design agreements with Baldwin White Architects for pre-design and schematic design on the Union Drive residence project and agreements with Brooks, Borg and Skiles for pre-design and schematic design services on a new 4-H/Extension building.

• Revised budgets for the Maple Hall remodeling and flood mitigation project and the utilities extension on the north side of campus for the Hawthorn residence development.

The board will not meet in August. The next board meeting will be September 15-16 at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls.