Adams State University Board of Trustees moved forward with a $69 million annual budget Friday, adopting the new budget as a way to make significant investments in faculty and staff, academic programs, and campus infrastructure.
“The Trustees made a strong statement indicating the quality of our student experiences and ultimately the increase in student success through higher retention and graduation requires continuous investments,” said President Cheryl D. Lovell. “These investments in faculty and staff, academic programs, and campus infrastructure mirror the expectations we have for our students to ensure their Adams Experiences are of the highest quality.”
By investing in faculty and staff compensation levels, adding faculty to academic programs, and putting a spotlight on infrastructure improvements, the Trustees said they aim to enhance the overall student experience at Adams State and help the campus put a deeper focus on student success.
“With this budget we are able to invest in the faculty and staff, and make enhancements and changes to the facilities, all of which will add to the quality of experience students have when attending Adams State,” said Michele Lueck, Chair of the Trustees.
Trustee John Singletary emphasized the importance of the “quality of educational experience” students are having at Adams State and said the new budget will enhance the level of quality students are receiving at Adams State.
The new budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2021, includes a 3 percent salary increase for all employees. It also establishes potential adjustments to salaries of faculty and staff based on competitive wage surveys, and restores contribution levels the University makes to employee pension and retirement accounts.
The budget also includes an additional $784,000 in student federal aid support. The additional federal aid will help students offset modest increases to in-state and out-of-state tuition included in the budget.
Tuition will increase by $5 per credit hour for Colorado residents and $12 per credit hour for non-resident students. Full-time resident students taking at least 12 semester credit hours will now pay $60 more per semester and are able to take an additional 4 credit hours at no additional charge under Adams State tuition policy.
Student fees at Adams State will not increase in the new budget, and in fact the University is reviewing the fees it charges to students to ensure those costs remain relevant to the experience students are having at Adams State.
Adams State will also increase its residential housing costs by $25 per semester for students and $5 per semester for family housing units.
On the faculty side, Adams State as a result of the new budget adopted by Trustees, will add positions to Geology, Biology, Computer Science, Sociology, English and Counselor Education. It also will add an assistant director to the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Assessment.
“We continue to focus on the quality of our student experience and on position management,” said President Cheryl D. Lovell. “All positions have been centralized, and we require a demand analysis for creating new positions or filling behind a vacancy. We will continue to analyze job descriptions and personnel to ensure alignment with our needs for the future and maintain the highest quality experiences for our students.”
