President presents FY 2007 budget request

President David Roselle presents UD’s FY 2007 budget request to members of Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner’s staff.

1:33 p.m., Nov. 8, 2005--Increased funding for scholarships for Delaware residents, pre-K through grade 12 teacher training enhancements and a cancer research center at UD were among the initiatives highlighted by UD President David P. Roselle in his presentation of the University’s budget requests for FY 2007 to members of the governor’s executive staff on Nov. 7, in Dover.

Roselle also requested $9 million in FY 2007 (out of a total planned state commitment of $12.5 million) toward funding for the renovation of Brown Laboratory and $500,000 for projected increased energy expenses.

Operating budget requests

Roselle requested $360,000 to assist in funding a Center for Translational Cancer Research at UD. To be located in the Delaware Biotechnology Institute in Newark, the proposed center would serve as a focal point for continuing success in biomedical research and would provide infrastructure and support for collaborative interdisciplinary cancer research among researchers at UD, the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center at Christiana Hospital and other area institutions.

“As you know, Delaware has one of the highest rates of cancer occurrence in the nation,” Roselle said. “The program is part of the basic ‘medical schools without walls’ concept adopted by UD and the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center, where basic research is done at UD and the clinical component is done at Christiana Care.”

An example of exciting new cancer research being conducted at UD, Roselle said, is the work on cancer “nanobombs” by Balaji Panchapakesan, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at UD, whose work on nanotechnologies for cancer detection and treatment has been reported on in the journals NanoBiotechnology and Oncology Issues.

The proposed center, Roselle said would provide core services and research training experiences for undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, clinical residents and practicing oncologists, as well as faculty members actively engaged in or wanting to establish new programs in cancer research.

UD’s request for increased energy-cost funding is based on a projected 25 percent in UD energy costs for FY 2007, Roselle said.

State appropriations for the energy component of UD’s operating budget have remained constant for the past five years, while UD’s energy expenditures have increased by 52 percent, Roselle said.

“Quite frankly, we need your assistance in meeting increased energy costs,” Roselle said. “To the extent that such assistance is not forthcoming, University resources will have to be diverted from more critical uses to meet exponentially increasing energy costs.”

Roselle also requested an increase of $495,000 in scholarship funding for First State residents who qualify for a UD education and a $300,000 increase for library materials to maintain Morris Library as one of the pre-eminent research libraries in the United States. He noted that Morris Library is a member of the Association of Research Libraries, a 123-member group of America’s top college and university research institutions.

“The University’s admissions standards are structured so that no Delaware resident who projects success will be denied admission,” Roselle said. “The underlying philosophy for the scholarship special lines is to support a financial aid program under which no Delaware resident who qualifies to receive a UD education would be denied because of inability to pay for it.”

Scholarship special lines enabled 1,113 Delawareans to receive general scholarship support in 2005, including 368 residents who received minority student recruitment assistance and 675 residents who received assistance through the aid to needy students program.

The number of Delaware residents who enrolled as freshman in 2005 is 341 greater than the number who enrolled in the fall of 1990, Roselle said.

“These numbers are impressive and help assure access to the University for all academically qualified Delaware residents,” Roselle said. “Your support for the requested inflationary increases to our scholarship special lines is essential to maintaining and enhancing access to the University for young Delaware scholars.”

The University also requested $575,000 in funding increases for several pre-K through college initiatives, including:

$200,000 for the Mathematics and Science Education Resource Center to support two clinical faculty positions to ensure that science and mathematics education students at UD receive thorough content preparation in their respective disciplines;
$100,000 for the Delaware Center for Teacher Education, for a clinical faculty member in secondary special education;
$125,000 to partially support a senior faculty clinical director in the College of Arts and Sciences who will be responsible for coordinating student-teacher placements across the disciplines in that college; and
$150,000 for training and research in education management, to partially fund salary and benefits costs of education leadership faculty in southern Delaware and to increase UD support for the Delaware Academy for School Leadership.

Additional operating budget requests include:

$300,000 for the creation of a Coastal Community Development Center to function as a clearinghouse and resource center, offering analysis and solutions involving the issues that surround coastal community development. The funding would be used to hire a community development specialist who would focus on local economic development, natural resource management and land use and a half-time staff member to develop and maintain a web site that will serve as an interactive planning tool for local communities;
$200,000 for transportation infrastructure research, including a new faculty position to add UD expertise in helping the state address its critical transportation issues;
$100,000 for improved campus security to hire and equip additional student escorts and student police aides; and
$55,400 joint-funding increase with Delaware Technical and Community College for the Associate in Arts Program.

“We truly believe that all of the items on our request list are important to fully serving the citizens of Delaware,” Roselle said. “To the extent that funds allow, we ask that you consult the priority list that we are providing and that you move down that list as far as possible.”

Building renewal and renovation

Topping UD’s capital requests for FY 2007 is $9 million from the state to help fund renovation of 72,000 square feet in the north and west wings of Brown Laboratory, located on The Green of UD’s Newark campus.

Constructed in 1937, the building, which houses the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, honors the memory of H. Fletcher Brown, UD benefactor and member of UD’s Board of Trustees from 1929-44. The south wing of Brown Laboratory was renovated in 1995-96.

The architecture firm, Stubbins Associates of Cambridge, Mass., has been selected for the modernization. The building’s courtyard will be filled in to provide the current environmental and height requirements for NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) equipment.

“This is an essential project in providing state-of-the-art teaching and research for our Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry that can no longer be delayed,” Roselle said.

Capital budget requests also include $1.5 million for academic building renovations. The funds were appropriated to UD’s operating budget in FY 2003 and FY 2004 and were returned to the capital budget in 2005 and cut from the budget for FY 2006, Roselle said.

“The University has over 3.2 million gross square feet of academic space, 35 percent of which was constructed more than 45 years ago. The recurring appropriation of $1.5 million for facilities renewal and renovation is an integral assumption in our overall capital planning, ” Roselle said. “To lose those funds places an undue burden on a University that has been more than responsive in using its own resources to assist the state through difficult economic times.”

Roselle also requested $1 million for minor capital improvements, including teaching and research equipment in the life and health sciences and engineering infrastructure. The facilities renewal and renovation and minor capital budget amounts requests would be matched by UD on at least a one-to-one basis, Roselle said.

The University also is seeking $1 million to begin planning an undergraduate science building, which will cost an estimated $25-30 million, Roselle said. The cost of the building will be shared among the state, UD and private donors.

While the undergraduate science building incorporates funding that combines state and UD resources with private donations, Roselle noted that a substantial number of facilities at UD are the result of UD resources and donations by generous friends.

“These funds are used to both construct new facilities and to renovate existing facilities,” Roselle said. “Current examples include the newly constructed Center for the Arts, which will open in 2006, and the Foreign Languages Building, which entailed the complete renovation of two vacant fraternity houses on the Old College Campus in Newark.”

Highlights of recent UD achievements

Before addressing capital and operating budget request issues, Roselle noted UD has again received national recognition in several areas, including being designated as a Truman Scholarship Honor Institution for its outstanding record of having Truman scholars selected from its undergraduate body.

“The University thus joins 49 other universities with the Truman Honor designation,” Roselle said. “These include Columbia, Duke, Harvard and Yale Universities.”

Roselle also noted that UD’s retention and graduation rates exceed by substantial margins those for most other state flagship institutions, and that UD graduates go on to accomplished careers in both the public and private sector.

Faculty grants, Roselle said, accounted for $141 million in externally funded contracts and grants for fiscal FY 2005.

“It is noteworthy that, if the $141 million in contract and grant expenditures were viewed as net corporate revenue, the University’s research units collectively constitute one of the state’s most successful businesses,” Roselle said. “The externally funded activities are translated into pure and applied research and public services activities that directly impact the quality of life in Delaware and the region.”

Article by Jerry Rhodes
Photo by Jon Cox

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