WVUP Board of Governors approves $28.6M budget
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PARKERSBURG -- The West Virginia University at Parkersburg Board of Governors approved a $28.6 million budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year during its regular meeting on Tuesday.
The budget includes around a $23 million operating budget with another $5.6 million in grants, said Alice Harris, executive vice president of finance and administration.
A lot of the money for the college comes from state appropriations made through the state legislature and tuition. Many grants are limited money for a specific amount of time and for a particular program.
The board recently approved a 4.34% increase to tuition for the upcoming academic year to keep up with inflation.
"In my 10 years here this is one of the easier budgets I have put together," Harris said.
The university has had three consecutive semesters of increasing enrollment bringing in money to make sure the university "is in a positive place."
The budget included a $2,500 raise for faculty and staff.
The university currently has 30 active grants that they are using money from. Other grants could be forthcoming as many are awarded around the end of the current fiscal year or the beginning of the next fiscal year.
"We will have more, we always do," Harris said. "We can't always anticipate what is going to happen after July 1 ... with grants that we have applied for (as of April), but not sure if we got."
Harris is expecting to be bringing in more tuition money, but she did not factor in the tuition increase in her figures in order to create a cushion in case they don't reach the levels of enrollment they are hoping for.
Interest rates have been good with a higher return on investments than what officials were initially thinking. They are expecting revenues from the university's new book store.
Harris increased spending on food items as many people have seen the cost of groceries go up in their own lives.
She included a $300,000 cushion to help fund any unanticipated projects the university might face. She also included $500,000 for the university's capital improvement projects for the coming year to cover deferred maintenance projects.
Harris said her approach was conservative so there is a possibility they could end up with more money that they could devote to projects they could cover with additional money they did not initially anticipate.
"We are in a good place right now," Harris said.
In other business, the university has received its draft report from the West Virginia Higher Education Commission (WVHLC) following their recent visit to reaffirmation of the college's accreditation that occurs every 10 years. Accreditation for the university means they can receive federal money for their students.
The WVHLC is expected to officially approve the report at its meeting at the end of the month.
"Pending final approval, it is with great pride that I tell you we met all criteria for accreditation with no concerns provided,"President Torie Jackson said.
The WVHLC noted WVUP has a "strong sense of its mission to provide access to education that enables personal and professional success," Jackson said.
The report also highlighted the university's strong fiscal position has been able to allow it to provide facilities and technology that supports effective teaching and learning across all of its programs.
Quoting from the report, Jackson said the WVHLC felt WVUP was a "healthy institution with a dedicated faculty and staff that is forward leaning" … and "supporting a positive environment for faculty, staff and students."