This periodic newsletter shares how the University System of Maryland is advancing quality and access to higher education for students and the State of Maryland. Let us hear from you: usmbriefs-owner@usmd.edu.

February 2008

Governor Proposes FY 2009 System Budget

Increasing access and affordability while addressing Maryland's pressing workforce challenges are at the forefront of Governor Martin O'Malley's proposed FY 2009 operating and capital budgets for the University System of Maryland (USM).

The Governor's budget plan calls for freezing in-state undergraduate tuition and increasing USM's total state budget support by $94.3 million (9.4 percent). Approximately $40 million of this amount is provided through the Higher Education Investment Fund (HEIF). HEIF will be used to hold tuition at current levels, fund USM's closing the achievement gap initiative, and increase the system's student financial aid fund by $7.2 million.

Proposed by Governor Martin O'Malley and approved by the General Assembly during fall 2007's legislative special session, HEIF marks an historic step for Maryland, establishing the state's first dedicated funding stream for public higher education. HEIF's legislation directed $16 million to the fund in FY 2008 and six percent of corporate income tax revenues (projected at $55 million) to it in FY 2009.

The Governor's proposal also dedicates funds for upgrading and increasing enrollment in USM's nursing programs at University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB); Frostburg State University; and Bowie State University. Additional funds will be used to launch new degree programs in respiratory care at the Universities at Shady Grove in Rockville and pharmacy at University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

The Governor's capital budget plan calls for $180 million in FY 2009 for UMB's pharmacy building addition and renovation; University of Maryland, College Park's new physical science center; Towson University's new college of liberal arts building; and Coppin State University's new physical education complex and science and tech center.

Read the Chancellor's Letter on the Governor's FY 2009 Budget Proposals.

Salisbury University and University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) have once again been named to Kiplinger's Top 100 Best Values in Public Colleges, ranked number 62 and 28 respectively. Kiplinger's weighs the factors of academic excellence, cost, and availability of financial aid assistance to derive the annual list.

Ebony magazine's 2007-2008 Guide to Historically Black Colleges and Universities profiled the nation's HBCUs and ranked Bowie State University number one for awarding master's degrees in computer science and information technology to African-Americans. Ebony lauded University of Maryland Eastern Shore for having a wide variety of programs geared toward workforce needs, including agriculture, aviation science, construction management, and hotel and restaurant management.

USM institutions also rank among the best in the world as UMCP's recent global rankings testify. UMCP was recently ranked 37th in the world and 28th among U.S. schools on the Jiao Tong University (Shanghai, China) "World's Top 100 Universities" list.

For more information, visit USM in the National Rankings.

USM's Effectiveness and Efficiency (E&E) Initiative brought $37.8 million in direct cost savings to the system in FY 2007. E&E also realized $40 million in cost avoidances, increased revenue, and strategically reallocated resources. Adopted in 2004, the E&E Initiative has been a signature program of USM to reduce costs while improving overall operations across the system. E&E direct cost savings alone have totaled more than $94 million since FY 2005.

In FY 2007, USM saved or avoided costs totaling $77.9 million through E&E activities. They included restructuring business processes; partnering with external organizations on the use of facilities and other resources; competitive contracting; energy conservation measures; technology improvements; entrepreneurial activities; and rebalancing in-sourcing and out-sourcing of staff for improved cost-effectiveness.

Academic operations are also a focus of E&E, with the specific aim of increasing productivity and USM's ability to absorb more students while decreasing time-to-degree. One measure of academic productivity--instructional workload--has risen almost eight percent during the last four years, from an average of 7.0 course units taught per full-time faculty member (CU/FTEF) in FY 2003 to 7.5 CU/FTEF in FY 2007 at our seven comprehensive universities. Academic workload at USM's research institutions saw an even more dramatic increase of 20 percent during the same period.

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A new exhibit in the second-floor gallery of the Miller Senate Office Building in Annapolis celebrates the 20^th anniversary of the founding of the University System of Maryland. The 12-panel exhibit traces the system's origins from the founding of the first public colleges in Maryland during the early 1800s to today's educational and research powerhouses that are transforming the lives of students, driving the state's knowledge economy, and addressing critical workforce needs.

Individual panels highlight USM's significant historical mileposts, student achievement, faculty excellence, public service, leading-edge research, and initiatives to increase access and affordability in education and accountability to the citizens of Maryland.

The exhibit is open to the public daily, Monday-Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

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Governor Martin O'Malley has proposed $2.4 million in the FY 2009 state budget to continue funding nano-biotechnology research across the university system. Since 2006, the Nano Bio Research Fund has been nurturing Maryland's "small scale" revolution by providing seed money for faculty recruitment, equipment, and research that integrates the fields of nanotechnology and biotechnology. The fund is administered through a partnership of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED) and USM.

Established by the State of Maryland in FY 2007, the Nano Bio Fund has provided a total $4.9 million to date for 11 research projects at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP); University of Maryland, Baltimore County; University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute (UMBI); and the University of Maryland, Baltimore.

As a result, USM researchers have submitted 33 proposals to external agencies for a total of $16 million in grants. In 2006, the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation gave more than $1 million to fund a cross-disciplinary group of researchers from UMCP's Clark School of Engineering, UMBI, and the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy working to develop a nanoscale biochip that will serve as a tiny drug testing and discovery laboratory.

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The number of students attending USM institutions reached a record high of 137,412 with the release of the system's fall 2007 opening enrollment numbers.

Eight of the system's 11 universities experienced enrollment growth between 1.7 and 9.4 percent: Bowie State University (2.1 percent); Frostburg State University (1.7 percent); Towson University (4.4 percent); University of Baltimore (9.4 percent); University of Maryland, Baltimore (4.4 percent); University of Maryland, Baltimore County (2.1 percent); and University of Maryland, College Park (2.6 percent).

First-time, full-time undergraduate enrollment also reached a record high of 13,072-up 3.1 percent from fall 2006--reflecting the surge in high--school graduation levels associated with the "Baby Boom Echo" population. Graduate/first-professional enrollment grew 4.2 percent in the same period.

USM currently receives funds through its Enrollment Funding Initiative (EFI) to help meet the demand on its universities' operating budgets as a result of increasing enrollments. Governor O'Malley has proposed $10.6 million in EFI funding for FY 2009.

Fall 2007 Opening Enrollment Report