The University Board of Visitors approved the University's 2005 operating and capital amendment requests to the 2004-2006 Virginia state budget at a meeting on Friday, allowing the University to submit the amendments to Gov. Mark R. Warner for inclusion in his proposed budget to the General Assembly in December.
The requests include $12.71 million in operating amendments for the Academic Division, $2.8 million for the Medical Center and $2.1 million for the College at Wise. The University also received approval from the Board to request $107.8 million in capital amendments for the Academic Division, $78.8 million for the Medical Center and $1.89 million for the College at Wise.
While most of the requests, especially the main capital building projects, will be paid for by University funds and only require approval from the state, projects requiring general fund support from the state must deal with political and financial limitations and may not be approved.
Although the majority of the University's budget is approved during budget years, such as last year, the amendments reflect the need for items that become apparent between budget cycles, said Colette Sheehy, University vice president for management and budget.
"Many of the non-general fund projects are of a high priority," Sheehy said.
Sheehy added that additional funds for maintaining and operating the soon-to-open Wilsdorf Hall, as well as the renovation of Fayerweather Hall and the construction of a new studio art building, represent an especially high priority for the University among its funding requests.
The additional funding is needed for a widespread increase in material costs that is affecting building projects everywhere, Sheehy said.
"It's happening all over the country," Sheehy said.
Other notable capital amendments include a new facility for the Education School, a new clinical cancer center for the Medical Center and replacing the separate Art Museum and Performing Arts Center proposals with an expanded Arts Center to encompass both of them. All the above projects would be paid for by the University with sources such as bonds and gifts.
Other notable operating amendment requests include an increase in the level of state funding for the University healthcare plan, an increase in graduate stipends and a new Clinical Science Scholar Program designed to attract physicians and clinical research to the commonwealth. These projects would be paid for by money from the state's general fund.
According to Warner spokesperson Ellen Qualls, while state funding for higher education remained too low, the budget passed by the General Assembly in May allowed for an increase in funding.
"The tax reform plan this year was able to put a significant amount of new dollars into higher education and the governor will certainly keep that commitment in the budget he puts forward in December," Qualls said.
The proposed chartered universities initiative would have a significant impact on the University's budget requests, according to Sheehy. Under the changes, the University would no longer have to request authorization from the General Assembly before spending its own money.
"We could probably shave a year off a project if we didn't have to go through the state's approval cycle," said Sheehy.
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