Open forums
5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 1, Hall Auditorium, Oxford
5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 7, Hall Auditorium
Noon to 2 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 8, MRP A, Shriver Center, Oxford
3 to 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 17, VOALC, West Chester Twp.
5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 22, Hall Auditorium
To see the full report, visit miami.muohio.edu/spc.
OXFORD — Miami University will hold a series of open forums as part of ongoing efforts to create a sustainable budget.
Miami’s Strategic Priorities Task Force, which began meeting in April, issued 34 recommendations this month to create savings and new revenues that will carry Miami through the next five years and beyond.
Recruiting more out-of-state and international undergraduates, making intercollegiate athletics less reliant on funding from the university, increasing fundraising for the endowment fund and reducing competition Miami campuses are among the recommendations.
The efforts comes as Miami faces uncertainties in the coming years, like less funding from the state, a projected drop in the college-age population and increasing competition among schools.
“Higher education, which has historically been able to pass on all cost increases, is ill prepared for the new economic and financial reality that it faces,” a report from the task force reads.
The task force also suggests fewer small classes by changing the minimum number of students for a class from 10 to 20. They also recommend reorganizing to reduce the number of departments and programs and reducing the overall number of majors offered.
Also recommended is charging students the in-state tuition rate for credit hours in excess of 18, unless specifically required by their major. In 2009-10, this would have resulted in additional revenue of $2.3 million. They also suggest charging program-specific or major-specific fees as a way to reduce overall tuition increasing, since some areas of study are more expensive to offer than others.
“Miami University’s goal must be to gain ground during this time of instability so as to advance our standing among the leading set of academic institutions to which we belong,” the report reads. “Achieving this goal requires many sacrifices and no one part of the university will remain untouched. Yet the end result, if properly executed, will make us a stronger, more focused university compared to less-prepared institutions.”
Contact this reporter at (513) 523-4139 or mengle@coxohio.com.
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