Trustees Approve 2019-20 General Fund Operating Budget, Tuition and Fees

Ferris State University’s Board of Trustees, in a special meeting conducted via conference call on Monday, June 17, approved a preliminary 2019-20 general fund operating budget that includes tuition and fees for the upcoming academic year.

The new tuition rates include an average undergraduate increase of 3.15 percent. The lower-division tuition rate was approved at $431 per credit hour, while upper-division classes will be set at $452 per credit hour. Further, the board approved a preliminary 2019-20 general fund operating budget of more than $208 million, a reduction of approximately $306,000 from the final 2018-19 budget.

The 2019-20 preliminary budget includes $26.3 million in student scholarships, an increase of $1 million from the 2018-19 budget. Institutional scholarship support, for Ferris students, has increased from $13 million, in 2008-09, to now $26.3 million.

At their last regular meeting, on May 10, trustees approved a 2019-20 preliminary housing and dining services operating budget of $32.9 million, an increase of 1.5 percent.

Among other actions, the trustees approved:

• a five-year contract renewal with Ellucian, the provider of the university’s Banner business management software, and professional services to perform the implementation and training for the Ellucian Reporting Suite and Intelligent Learning Platform modules for this platform
• a new five-year contract with Instructure, a learning management system to serve faculty, staff and students
• a feasibility study to determine the best long-term option for housing a portion of the Information Technology Services staff and a primary server room, currently housed in West Building
• ratified the terms and conditions of the tentative agreement under which academic advisors will be added to the FFA bargaining unit as agreed to on May 16 by the trustees and Ferris Faculty Association. The deal is effective from the date of ratification, by both parties, through June 30, 2023

The trustees are chair Amna P. Seibold, of East Grand Rapids; vice chair Ana L. Ramirez-Saenz, of Grand Rapids; secretary Rupesh K. Srivastava, of Wixom; member-at-large Lori A. Gwizdala, of Bay City; Robert J. Hegbloom, of Clarkston; Kurt A. Hofman, of Grand Rapids; Kari L. Sederburg, of East Lansing; and LaShanda R. Thomas, of Grosse Pointe.

The next regular meeting of the Board is Friday, Oct. 4 in Grand Rapids. Committee meetings begin at 10 a.m. followed by the 11 a.m. full board meeting.