Dear University Community,

With the passage of a revised legislative budget by the 111^th General Assembly on June 19, I wanted to provide the campus community with an update of items affecting MTSU.  As I communicated to the campus back in March, the General Assembly passed a limited 2020-21 fiscal year budget in order to fulfill their constitutional requirement at that time, knowing the budget would need to be revisited when they reconvened in early June. 

I am happy to report that higher education institutions, including MTSU, will not experience cuts in base appropriations for the upcoming year, nor have funds impounded.  This would not have been possible without the advocacy of Executive Director Mike Krause and the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) along with the support of the Governor, Commissioner Eley, and the legislature.

Due to the  passage of a final State Budget not expected until June, THEC delayed setting tuition and fee ranges for institutions, which was originally planned for discussion at their May 2020 meeting.  These ranges are normally set after the legislature has passed the Governor’s budget.  THEC held a special called Commission meeting this past Friday to set the range at 0 – 2%.  As approved by MTSU’s Board of Trustees on June 16, MTSU students will not see any increase in tuition and fees for the upcoming year.

Outlined below are other specifics of how the passage of the amended budget will impact the University.

Recurring Operating Funds – New funding requested for higher education, including funding for salary increases, was removed from the budget as a result of budget reductions.  This equates to approx. $5.2 million in new funds the University would have received to cover the University’s annual fixed costs.

Non – Recurring Operating Funds – Funding of $1.2 million remained in the budget to provide continued financial aid for the Medical Education Program jointly administered by MTSU and Meharry Medical College. 

Capital Outlay – All capital outlay funding for higher education was removed from the 2020-21 budget.  The source of funding for last year’s School of Concrete and Construction Management project was revised but this will have no impact as the University proceeds with the project.

Capital Maintenance – Funding for three maintenance projects totaling $7.1 million was reduced to one maintenance project with an estimated project cost of $4.6 million.

The University’s Proposed Budget will be submitted to THEC in mid-July.   Since this budget was developed using the State Budget approved in March 2020, budget revisions are under consideration and will be reflected in the October Revised Budget.

As always, thanks for your dedication to our university  - and be safe.

Sincerely,

Sidney A. McPhee
President
Sidney.McPhee@mtsu.edu