MSCHE/ACOE Self Study

fees. These fiscal challenges have been met by placing a greater emphasis on other sources of funds, such as clinical care, research and philanthropy. Like any individual or business, the College should prepare financially for future contingencies, e.g., reductions in State support, unexpected and extraordinary expenditure needs, capital equipment replacement, or building flexible reserves. In addition to such contingencies, the College must also meet its normal, programmatic and operational spending requirements. Since no single source of funding fully supports the College, it is necessary to budget on an "all funds" basis. In order to do this in a meaningful way, the College must generate campus-based revenue to augment diminishing levels of State support to an extent that is sufficient to fund its on-going spending needs and build reserves for the future. Maintaining positive fund balances is essential to this process. Over the last several years, the College has been able not only to maintain but also to grow its fund balances from $6M as of 6/30/05 to $14M as of 6/30/10. This has enabled the campus to make continued progress in achieving the goals and objectives set forth in its strategic plan, even though the State's bleak fiscal situation has resulted in repeated reductions in support. Looking to the future, the College will continue its "all funds" budgeting, growing revenue where possible and adjusting spending accordingly, in order to maintain normal operations and to preserve the positive fund balances needed for both planned growth and dealing with uncertainty. In spite of decreases in State support for operations, the College has been approved and funded for complete renovation of the lobby, second floor, third floor and third-floor mezzanine, along with part of the research space on the 16 th and 17 th floors. The projects may allow for additional revenues in the future associated with enrollment levels, research grants and continuing professional education programs (see Section F). Tuition and Fees Total revenues from tuition and fees for 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 are $4.2 million and $4.5 million, respectively 10 . Tuition is currently determined by the University’s Board of Trustees upon the recommendation of the campus (please see Appendix D-7 for the recent request and justification for a tuition increase). In-state and out-of-state tuition are, respectively, $17,380 and $33,370 per year for the optometry program and $8,370 and $13,780 per year for the graduate program (2010-2011 academic year). Most full-time PhD students receive a tuition waiver and stipends for teaching or research assistantships. Most part- time MS students are also full-time students in the optometry professional

10 These figures, which come from IPEDS, are at variance with those in the 2009 Annual Report that are derived from the SUNY computer system and reflect what System calls “revenue offset." These latter figures include gross tuition, fees, clinic pledge, interest, and some IFR fringe benefit recovery, and are all supplemental to the State tax-support portion of the financial plan.

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