On Nov. 7, 2017, Student Assembly came together to discuss the 2019 Fiscal Year Budgeting Process overview with Keene State College Interim President Dr. Melinda Treadwell and University System of New Hampshire’s (USNH) Vice Chancellor for Fiscal Affairs Catherine Provencher.
Treadwell discussed her new model of a “Conservative Pragmatic Budget.” For the 2019 school year, Treadwell said the enrollment at KSC will be down by about 200 students due to the loss of a large senior class and the smaller sizes of the classes now.
To make up for it, Provencher explained that there will be a 2.5 percent increase in tuition and fees.
However, even with the price increases, Provencher explained that there still will be less revenue due to the fact that there will be less students.
From here, Provencher said that her and Treadwell have been discussing plans of putting fees towards the KSC’s Counseling Center, the Center for Health and Wellness and Athletics and Sports Recreation. Provencher said that they aim to combine the fees for The Counseling Center and the Center for Health and Wellness. This way, if one or the other needs funding, there will be two budgets to pick from, but one revenue stream will be funding it.
Provencher also said that they are possibly going to do this with the fees from Sports and Recreation as well.
Treadwell said that they need to think about making sure they support the learning experiences KSC has to offer.
The budget is coming out of cost containment, according to Treadwell, but it is also happening at the same time while they are in negotiations with staff about compensation for their hard work and salary increases.
Provencher posed a question for the student assembly: “For the future, what if there were no mandatory fees and there was only tuition to pay?”
Treadwell said if Student Assembly opposes fee increases, they can write a letter that would go to the board saying that they don’t agree.
For the Nov. 14 Student Assembly meeting, Treadwell said she will have three budgets for them, and for the Nov. 28, the final four. For the Nov. 28 meeting, she will also be bringing the possible price for attendance at KSC and what they are looking at for tuition, room and board and fees.
Provencher also discussed the student activity fees with Student Assembly. She said they now need to budget the student activities fee. Provencher also reminded Student Assembly that even with the student activity fees, there will still be fewer students paying it due to lower enrollment for 2019.
Once Treadwell and Provencher finished their statements, Student Body Vice President Sarah Dugas led the Student Assembly to move on.
Student Government Advisor Brandon Mathieu urged the Student Assembly to ask questions to each group that will be presenting to them about increased fees.
Student Body President Kenadee Cadieux was the only one to report, and she reminded the Student Assembly that the Open Forum with Melinda Treadwell is scheduled for Nov. 15.
Grace Pecci can be contacted at asaurman@kscequinox.com
