RESOLUTION

CONCERNING

GENERAL FUND DISTRIBUTION METHODOLOGY

July 22, 2005

WHEREAS,    Pursuant to the provisions of Section 10a-89(a) of the Connecticut general statutes, the board of trustees shall "...Subject to state-wide policy and guidelines established by the Board of Governors of Higher Education,...(1) Make rules for the government of the Connecticut State University system and shall determine the general policies of the university system, including those concerning the admission of students and the expenditure of the funds of institutions under its jurisdiction within the amounts available;..." Further, under the provisions of Section 10a-99(b), "...the board of trustees shall establish an equitable policy for allocation of appropriations from general revenues of the state, fringe benefits transferred from the State Comptroller and tuition revenue deposited in the Connecticut State University System Operating fund...", and

WHEREAS,    In FY1994-95, the Board of Trustees, pursuant to its statutory authority, reviewed the then-existing distribution methodology for tuition and general fund dollars, and adopted new formulas for distribution, and

WHEREAS,    A completely new model which addressed several issues raised by the universities concerning equity and stability, as well as greatly simplified the distribution formula was adopted by the Board of Trustees effective July 1, 2000, and

WHEREAS,    Since that time, there have been numerous suggestions from the universities for revisions, some technical in nature, and some more substantial, and

WHEREAS,    The revised distribution model addresses many of these suggestions, while retaining the simplification of the distribution process, therefore be it

RESOLVED,   That tuition and the general fund appropriation be distributed on the basis of the principles described below:

nGeneral Fund

Each institution will be provided with a base cost block grant for FY2006 of $3,012,522 plus fringe of $1,265,260 to cover certain fixed costs of operations (institutional support and facilities support). This amount will be increased annually, based on salary increases for Management/Confidential personnel and annual changes to fringe benefit rates.

Each institution will be provided with a variable cost block grant based on the sum of the prior year's ending full-time-equivalent of full-time students enrolled, with out-of-state students weighted on a 1 to 2.4 basis. These enrollment numbers will be based on the average of fall and spring third-week enrollment figures.

A portion of the state appropriation will be retained for system office operations, related activities, and other priorities of the Board of Trustees. These amounts will be established annually as a part of the Spending Plan process. Expenses for System Office and Systemwide Projects will be assessed equally across the four universities. Expenses for Systemwide Information Technology, including expenses for new information security initiatives, will be proportionally allocated among the universities based on FTE of all students, with residential students weighted at 1.25. The System Office will internally exchange General Fund dollars for operating fund dollars in order to ensure that all General Fund current services dollars are spent on Personal Services.

Any "new facilities" funds provided in the state appropriated block grant that are not specifically designated (e.g. for a particular university, building or project) will be allocated in perpetuity to the universities with new facilities coming on line that year, on a proportional basis. For FY2006 a base amount of "new facilities" funds will be established by university; this amount will be the total of state appropriated funds provided for new facilities by university for each of the years from FY1997-98 to FY2005-06.

Tuition and Extension Fee Freeze amounts received as state appropriation will not be included in the General Fund block grant distributed to the universities. Instead, these funds will be distributed as follows:

Tuition Fee Freeze dollars will be distributed proportionally based on the prior year ending tuition net of waivers.

Extension Fee Freeze dollars will be distributed proportionally based on the prior years ending part-time credit hours per university.

nTuition

Each institution will retain all tuition funds collected from its students.

Each institution will be assessed a portion of its tuition receipts to support priorities of the Board of Trustees. The Trustees' priority portion will be a fixed amount of $1,600,000 per year; $600,000 will be assessed proportionally based on prior year ending tuition net of waivers; $1,000,000 will be assessed equally across the four universities. The Board of Trustees may assess the universities additional amounts for other Board priorities as they see fit.

Each institution must comply with policies and statutory requirements of CSU grants.

and be it further

RESOLVED,   That supplemental funding of $500,000 from Systemwide reserves be provided to Southern Connecticut State University in FY2005-06, as it will be receiving less General Fund dollars than it would have received under the prior methodology, to enable the university to take the strategic actions necessary to address the decreased funding, and be it further

RESOLVED,   That the revised distribution methodology be implemented effective July 1, 2005, and be it further

RESOLVED,   That BR#2000-53 be rescinded effective July 1, 2005.

A Certified True Copy:

William J. Cibes, Jr.
Chancellor