ACUP looks ahead to spring semester priorities

Topics include the capital budget and capital projects, need-blind admissions and graduate financial aid, campus life initiatives, and new revenue sources.

At their first meeting of the spring semester, members of the Advisory Committee on University Planning (ACUP) turned their attention toward issues they hope to discuss through May.

But before looking ahead, ACUP members finalized a key portion of the committee's fall agenda: its budget recommendations for 2000-01. The ACUP report has been delivered to President Blumstein and members of the Corporation and will be considered during the Corporation meeting Feb. 25-26.

(A copy of the complete report will be published in the Feb. 25 George Street Journal.)

While working on its annual budget recommendation, ACUP also began to refocus the scope of its work on the University's long-term strategic plans and priorities. The committee devoted meetings to reviewing undergraduate financial aid, capital projects and planning, information and technology infrastructure, classrooms and deferred maintenance, academic planning and priorities, and new revenue streams.

Many of those topics will be revisited this semester, Provost Kathryn Spoehr, who chairs ACUP, told the members attending the Feb. 14 meeting. Topics include:

• the capital budget and capital projects;

• the Undergraduate Finance Board;

• benefits for graduate students, faculty and staff. Representatives from Human Resources will make presentations to ACUP, with particular focus on the rising costs of health care;

• need-blind admissions and graduate financial aid. Several Corporation members are very interested in this issue, Spoehr said, and an informal group has been meeting. Michael Bartini, director of financial aid, and Susan Howitt, associate vice president for budget and planning, will be writing an interim report, which will be shared with ACUP, Spoehr said;

• spending for campus life initiatives. The campus life task force, meeting under the direction of Janina Montero, vice president of campus life and student services, hopes to have a set of recommendations available in late April or early May, Spoehr said. Once the task force shares its report with ACUP, the committee can begin to make more concrete budget recommendations regarding capital projects that affect campus life, Spoehr said.

• new sources of revenue. The University could obtain additional revenue by increasing the number of undergraduates on campus. The Corporation set the maximum at 5,450 undergraduates several years ago, Spoehr said. She acknowledged that any increase would have implications for the faculty and campus facilities, but "if there is a sense on campus that there are good reasons to raise the number," ACUP could discuss the idea with the Corporation.