At Monday's Board of Trustees meetings, plans to request over $100 million in federal earmarks for research in 2009-2010 as well as plans to hike dorm rental rates and parking decal prices were approved by various committees of the board.
The full board, which is the university's highest governing body, will meet today to take the final vote on the measures.
If they are passed, dorm rent would go up by $210 a semester for the fall and spring of 2009-2010, an average increase of about 10 percent. Rent for the summer would stay the same to allow UF to be competitive in the cheap summer housing market.
Graduate and family housing would see increases next year ranging from $20 to $40 a month, or about 7 percent.
The increases are sought to counter spikes in utilities, rising employee salary and benefits costs and minimum wage increases.
They will also help UF install up-to-date features such as double panel windows and wireless Internet, said Patricia Telles-Irvin, UF's vice president of Student Affairs, after the meeting.
Telles-Irvin told Trustees that dorms are having to compete with more and more apartment complexes, some of which lure students with creative incentives.
"They're offering mopeds, they're offering laptops, they're offering, you know, free food," she said.
The board could also decide to raise parking decal prices by about 10 percent next year. Under the increase, an annual student decal would cost $134, up from $122.
Tuition for first- and second-year in-state students in the College of Medicine's Physician Assistant program could also be hiked 10 to 15 percent to make it comparable to other schools in the Southeast.
UF's students currently pay about $14,000 a year, whereas those at Barry University, also in Florida, pay $42,000 a year, according to board documents.
The board's committees also had a slew of discussion items, which were not up for vote, on their agendas at the meetings.
Topics included plans to start offering an online business degree at Santa Fe College and the demolition of UF's band shell.
Beginning in the fall, Santa Fe students will be able to enroll in a program offering bachelor's degrees in business administration.
The classes will be online, except for tests, and taught by UF faculty and staff.
The same degree is already offered through UF at other state colleges, but has not been offered at Santa Fe because of fears it would draw local students away from UF, said Andy McCollough, senior associate dean of the Warrington College of Business Administration.
Board members were also informed at the meeting that UF's Flavet Field band shell will be demolished next week to make way for a new band shell.
Telles-Irvin said the new band shell should be ready by early July and will cost about $1 million.
Half the money will come from the Capital Improvement Trust Fund, which is supported by student tuition fees at state universities. UF's Activity & Service Fee, paid by UF students, will cover the rest.
Former UF Student Body President and Trustee Kevin Reilly, excited about the new band shell, jokingly asked if he could swing the first sledgehammer to help demolish the old structure.
"You can go watch," responded Carol Walker, assistant vice president of UF's Facilities Planning & Construction.
Trustees were also briefed about UF's new student survey, the Student Experience in the Research University (SERU) survey, which was e-mailed to UF undergraduates yesterday.
In an effort to get students to participate, UF has made completion of the survey mandatory for eligibility in the football ticket lottery and is offering the possibility of $50 coupons at UF's bookstore, among other prizes, for completion of the survey.
Trustees also discussed the implications of the state's most recent revenue projections.
On Friday, economists projected the state's revenues, which come mainly from sales taxes, will be short another $2.3 billion for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, and $1.1 billion for the current fiscal year, according to a presentation by Jane Adams, UF's vice president of university relations.
The state's budget deficit for 2009-2010 could be $6 billion or more, according to projections.
It's not yet clear how these projections might affect UF's budget.
The state Legislature will use the estimates to determine the state's budget by the end of its session on May 1.
While state revenues are down, so are donations to UF. After a record haul of almost $65 million in December, the UF Foundation raked in less than $40 million in January and February.
Trustees were presented with some good news, however. Over the last 12 months, UF has saved almost $1.4 million in printing costs, including such expenses as paper, ink and printer repair.
Much of the savings come from publishing reports exclusively online, said Joe Hice, UF's associate vice president for Marketing and Public Relations.
Ed Poppell, UF's vice president for Business Affairs, also told Trustees that UF will seek to use $10 million originally allocated for a new chemistry building for energy efficient modifications at various campus buildings instead. The modifications, if approved, will likely pay for themselves in two to five years, he said.
Alligator Writer Emily Fuggetta contributed to this report.
