Hall wants USU to rely on self more for money
Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of articles, to run through the remainder of the school year, focusing on the business side of Utah State University.
Running a university requires more than tuition and professors. It also requires maintenance, insurance, construction, utilities and other business functions to keep a higher education institution running smoothly.
Fred Hunsaker, vice president of Administrative Affairs at Utah State University, said the university has been actively involved in energy-saving projects.
“Over the last 10 years, we have engaged in 30 to 40 projects that reduce the electricity and natural gas the campus consumes,” Hunsaker said.
These projects include installing motion-sensing lighting systems. Heating and cooling systems are now climate-controlled in approximately 50 buildings.
A new sprinkler system installed last year reduces the water time because it is able to water more at a time and adjusts for weather conditions like rain.
Hunsaker said one of the biggest, if not the biggest, project being undertaken is the new heat plant. This will switch the heat source from coal to natural gas.
“The pollution of the heat plant will be greatly reduced,” Hunsaker said.
Utilizing resources to the greatest potential is also a focus of USU, Hunsaker said.
The university grows its own plants in greenhouses north of Romney Stadium for landscaping the campus. USU also participates in recycling.
Hunsaker said USU is the model for recycling programs in higher education.
“It saves the environment. It saves the university money,” Hunsaker said.
USU currently recycles between 35 and 40 percent of its waste, Hunsaker said. By reducing the amount of garbage taken to landfills, that much money is saved.
“We’re equipped and capable to do more than is being sent,” Hunsaker said. He said the objective now is to have 50 percent of the university’s waste recycled.
“That would be an ambitious goal, but we have the facilities to do it,” Hunsaker said.
President Kermit L. Hall said the university also provides its own health insurance.
He said USU can provide it for 35 to 45 percent less than other programs.
“We’re able to forego the surcharge to faculty and staff,” Hall said.
Financially, the university is diversely funded, Hunsaker said. According to the annual financial report for 2000, $19.7 million was spent on operations and maintenance.
Hunsaker said approximately $6 million of that was spent on the utility bill.
Part of being self-sufficient, Hunsaker said, is not putting your eggs all in one basket.
“We’re diverse in our funding, so we’re not totally dependent on one source,” Hunsaker said.
State appropriations provide 34 percent of the revenue, according to the report. Gifts, grants and contracts, which are mainly research dollars, makes up 35.5 percent, and the remainder comes from tuition and fees and auxiliary services like the University Inn, Housing and Food Services and the USU Bookstore, among other services provided by USU.
Hunsaker said this isn’t typical. Most universities rely more on tuition than USU does.
Hall said USU can do more to become more self-sufficient.
Money from the state comes in with specific allocations. Money for capital improvements like the new heating system can only be used for the approved project.
Second-tier tuition, however, has more leeway.
“It allows us to set our own priorities,” Hall said.
The university also has an endowment. The endowment is a fund of $75 million that is not used. The gain, which is about 5 to 6 percent each year, is used for scholarships, research services and equipment, Hall said.
Hall said he wants that to increase the endowment amount.
One way of doing this, he said, is focusing on getting donations from companies, corporations and private donations.
The next year and a half will be spent “getting the pieces in place for that,” Hall said.
“When you do it, you have to do it well,” because you only have one shot at it, Hall said.
Donations will be sought from alumni around the world.
“The university needs to do better. A $75 million endowment is not enough for the student body we have and the ambitions we have,” Hall said.
Hall hopes also to raise money through the new Inaugural Student Scholarship Fund, which was just started to raise money for need- and merit-based scholarships.