Sue McDaniel, Tech Topics editorial assistant, 906-487-2343

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BUDGET PROPOSAL GOES TO THE BOARD

President Curt Tompkins will present a balanced budget to the University's Board of Control June 25. The budget includes significant internal cost cutting in the wake of an expected 10 percent decline in support from the State of Michigan, and will include a $2.9 million or 27 percent increase in financial aid to students.

The plan includes a total overhaul of Michigan Tech's tuition and fee structure, which would actually decrease tuition for part-time and some full-time students. Those taking 12 credits or less would see their charges reduced from $241 to $230 per credit hour. The budget calls for a 6.3 percent decline in fees and a modest 5.37 percent increase in room and board.

While tuition and fee charges vary, under the State formula for defining full-time status, students will see a 14.2 percent increase in tuition and mandatory fees under the re-engineered program. Currently, full-time students pay a flat rate of tuition, with freshmen and sophomores paying less than juniors and seniors. Under Tompkins' proposal, all undergraduates would be billed based on the number of credits they take each semester, at the rate of $230 per credit. In addition, the proposal would institute a surcharge of $400 per semester for students majoring in engineering and computer science programs.

Freshmen would not pay the surcharge.

"We are trying to implement a fairer system," Tompkins said. "Providing a top-quality education in engineering and computer science is very expensive. It costs significantly less to provide a similar quality education to students in other fields."

Based on the minimum full-time credit load of 12 credits, the in-state tuition for freshmen in all disciplines would decrease 4.7 percent, from $6,455 to $6,150. The tuition and fees for upper-division engineering and computer science students would increase 3.3 percent, from $6,727 to $6,950, while the bill for upper-division students in other disciplines would decrease 8.6 percent, from $6,727 to $6,150.

The more credits students take, the higher their tuition would be. Among Michigan-resident students taking 15 credits, freshmen in all disciplines would see an increase of 16.7 percent, from $6,455 to $7,530. Tuition bills for upper-division engineering students would increase 23.8 percent, from $6,727 to $8,330, with other upper-division students receiving an 11.9 percent increase, from $6,727 to $7,530.

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MTU BUDGET RECOMMENDATION

The new tuition structure offers benefits to nontraditional students, particularly those on a budget. It allows students working their way through school to spread their education out over a longer time period while not paying for more than the courses in which they are actually enrolled.

And the new system would also discourage the common practice of students enrolling in more courses than they can comfortably handle and then dropping one class half way through the semester. This can be detrimental when classes fill up and other students who need to take the course are unable to enroll.

The $117 million general fund budget draft assumes a 10 percent reduction in the University's state appropriation, from the $55.1 million budgeted in 2002-03 to $49.6 million.

Under Tompkins' draft budget, the University would reduce general fund expenditures by $6.5 million by instituting cuts of up to 7.2 percent in academic units and up to 10 percent in other areas. This fiscal year, the University has eliminated 64 positions, primarily through attrition.

The proposal provides $2 million, an overall increase of approximately 3 percent, for salary and wage hikes for faculty and staff. Merit raises are under consideration for nonunion employees. Most MTU employees have received only a 1.5 percent total increase over the past two years.

"My highest priority is to assure compensation increases for our high-quality faculty and staff," Tompkins said. "We have not provided competitive salary and wage increases during the past several years." The University risks losing some of its finest employees if it fails to compensate them fairly for their efforts, he said.

Tompkins derived his recommendations from a report issued by the Budget Reduction Advisory Committee, a group of faculty and staff which has been developing a variety of budget alternatives as the University copes with reductions in revenues from the state. For more information, visit http://www.mtu.edu/budget

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TRANSFER OF C2E2 FUNDS ANNOUNCED

TThe provost approved the following equipment requests submitted by the Century II Campaign Endowed Equipment (C2E2) Committee.

The committee awarded $2,500 to Sarah Green (Chemistry) for a fluorescence detector for a new high pressure liquid chromatography system; $3,500 to Jian Liu, Haiying Liu and Eugenijus Urnezius (Chemistry) for a time resolved electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance for nanostructured thin film research and development; $2,500 to Eugenijus Urnezius and Rudy Luck (Chemistry) for equipment for the integrated chemistry laboratory; and $3,826 to William Yarroch (Department of Education) for instructional equipment to improve teacher education.

"LA CAGE AUX FOLLES" NEXT CLUB INDIGO FEATURE
by Joe Kirkish

Only the French can handle the touchy subject of cross dressing, et al, but when they tackle such subject matter, they do it with aplomb. Mu Beta Psi's next Club Indigo features "La Cage Aux Folles," a perfect example of how a delicate subject can be turned into a hilarious farce with hardly a blush.

"La Cage" was originally a stage play of fantastic success; in 1978 it was turned into a film of equal success, eventually becoming the largest attended foreign movie in the USA. Not too long ago, it hit Broadway as a musical and once again won over record audiences.

What makes this movie so delightful is the off-handed way in which we meet the owner and the star of "La Cage," a seedy transvestite Saint-Tropez night club, and then get tangled in their home life--which, to put it mildly, is a madhouse of madcap action. Robin Williams and Nathan Lane starred in a Hollywood adaptation, but amusing as it was, it lacked the Gallic flavor of the original.

The movie will be shown at 7:15 p.m. on Friday, June 27. It will be preceded by a French buffet, catered by Chef Bill Caputi of the Keweenaw Co-op, Hancock. This Club Indigo is sponsored by Betty and Don Kilpela of the Isle Royale Queen III, Copper Harbor.

On July 11, the next Club Indigo will feature one of the greatest Westerns ever made, "High Noon," starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. Club Indigo events are a non-profit monthly program at the Calumet Theatre. For additional information and reservations for the buffet, call the theatre at 337-2610.

NEW STAFF

Patricia A. Gotschalk has joined the Office of Student Affairs as director of student judicial affairs. She was previously a part-time instructor at Michigan Tech. She also worked as a senior claims counsel for United Educators Insurance RRG, Inc. and as an associate attorney at Drinker, Biddle and Reath in Washington, D.C.
Gotschalk received a BA from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a JD from George Washington University Law School.

She lives in Houghton with her husband, Barry D. Solomon and enjoys cross-country skiing, quilt-making and gardening.

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FACULTY AND STAFF RECEIVE FUNDING

Associate Professor Brian Barkdoll (Civil and Environmental Engineering) has received $8,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Research Service for his project, "Management of Local Scour for Stream Rehabilitation in Agricultural Watersheds."

Professor Martin Jurgensen (SFRES) has received $21,050 for five years from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service North Central Research Station for his project, "Influence of Climate on Wood Decomposition Across United States Forest Service Experimental Forests."

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MTU NOTABLES

Don Williams, director of counseling services, has been invited to serve on the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention Committee as a statewide representative. The nonprofit organization is committed to controlling alcohol and drug abuse on college campuses.

He will be attending the fifth Statewide Initiatives Leadership Institute in Minneapolis, June 26-29.

During this training they will be covering the state and local policy issues as well as enforcement. The committee will also be doing strategic planning for the next year.

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ON THE ROAD

Associate Professor Ulrich H. E. Hansmann (Physics) presented a talk, "Energy Landscapes of Proteins," at the CECAM workshop "Metastability and Landscapes in Complex Systems" in Lyon, France, May 22-24. He also presented this talk as a seminar at the Department of Physics, University of Mainz, Germany.

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MICHIGAN TECH POSITIONS AVAILABLE

Job descriptions will be available at 1 p.m. on Friday, or by e-mail at <JOBS@MTU.EDU>.

The following positions will be posted Friday, June 20, 2003, at 1 p.m. through noon, Friday, June 27, 2003, in the Human Resources Office or at http://www.admin.mtu.edu/hro/postings/

Catering Manager--Memorial Union

University employees are reminded to apply in writing prior to noon, Friday, June 27, 2003, to be considered as internal candidates for bargaining unit positions only. Applicants from the recall pool will be given first consideration for non-bargaining-unit positions only. Vacancy announcements are normally posted every Friday at 1 p.m. in the Human Resources Office. Complete job descriptions are available in the Human Resources Office or by calling 487-2280. More information regarding employment opportunities is available by calling the Job Line at 487-2895. Michigan Technological University is an equal opportunity educational institution/equal opportunity employer.

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