News

Regents to tackle budget, expansion

By Nikie Johnson
Senior Staff Writer

The UH System Board of Regents will address the state budget crisis at its committee meeting today. 

Other issues on the slate include the addition of parking spaces, a reorganization of the College of Technology, construction on the M.D. Anderson Memorial Library and Melcher Hall and a plan to change the way students receive their financial aid awards.

The meeting will start at 8 a.m. in the Melcher Board Room of the Athletic/Alumni Center and is open to the public.

Gov. Rick Perry issued a mandate Jan. 23 that all state agencies, including UH, must immediately reduce Fiscal Year 2003 spending by at least 7 percent of their planned general revenue budget.

The Administration and Finance Committee will vote whether to recommend a $2.3 million, 1,040-space expansion of parking at UH. If approved, work would start in March. Some new spaces would be ready by May and the project would be finished by January.

A plan before the Administration and Finance Committee would allow students to receive their financial aid awards directly into their bank accounts, instead of through a refund check. The program would be administered through Higher One Inc., the company in charge of the Cougar 1Card debit card program.

The Academic and Student Affairs Committee will vote on whether to recommend a reorganization of the College of Technology into three departments. The college now has four departments.

The regents will also vote on approval of an increase in the budget for the current library expansion project. An additional $3.9 million in donations has been received for the project.

A $3.3 million renovation of Melcher Hallis second and third floors will also go before the regents. The project would be finished by the fall and funded through gifts and executive program revenue.

Other items on the agenda include presentations on the UH/University of Texas Alliance for Educational Progress and the 2001-02 Annual Financial Reports for UH and UHS, as well as reports on the amount of research funding and private donations received in the first quarter of FY03.

All actions that are approved by the committees will be put on the agenda for the Feb. 20 Board of Regents meeting, where they will be approved or disapproved.
 

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