Show Higher education appropriates 44 million in new funding Floyd wa W Masters ma o. o Contributing Writer Salt Lake City and the theother other nine higher education institutes in Utah come away from r m the 2008 Utah Legislative session delighted We can call it ita ita a successful session We should be happy said Vice President Mason Bishop The great news for and the other higher education facilities is that they suffered s no budget cuts Despite the fact proposal for the Digital Design Building to be bel l located at the South City Campus was not approved Bishop was pleased overall Lawmakers worked until the midnight hour debating several issues finally compromising on a budget that includes s 25 billion for education Included in the budget is SI 15 million to address the crucial need for more math and science teachers While this program affects mainly kindergarten through grade 12 students the hope is to provide incentive to retain these much sought-after sought professionals In a statement released by President Bioteau she stated Thank you for all of your efforts and interest These made a difference in helping our Ie understand who and what is The administration and staff worked diligently throughout the legislative the process to improve and enhance the higher education experience for its students and employees One of the notable victories was the million in time one-time supplemental funds This package includes a 2 percent of living increase for employees in addition to healthcare cost assistance An additional was appropriated under toward the prison education program Bishop endorsed the program noting the necessity and success of the program affords an opportunity for unlawful citizens to reenter society with the essential skills to succeed The program has a very good track record of accomplishment by providing vocational skills to offenders Bishop acknowledged that this program dramatically improves the participants' participants chances of a successful return to society While expectations overall were met the ambition for the Digital Design Building slated for the South City Campus did not receive funding Bishop was enthusiastic about the possibility for its approval next year The proposed project would be a state-of- state the-art the facility that would afford students with the technological tools to succeed in inmany inmany inmany many different disciplines Although Utah posted the third highest surplus in the states state's history the budget fell short of expectations by some million Budget Continued on V Legislative Budget I Continued from om A Al Alin t tin in projections Members of the legislature had hoped to pass a million set of tax cuts The budget surplus was not sufficient enough for lawmakers to pass any such proposal The budget cos cost for transportation is going torise torise to torise rise significantly Oil closed at a record high of SI 10 a barrel on March 11 A combination of rising f fuel l costs and an infrastructure in need of improvement is projected to consume more of the states state's available ti assetS This could affect education funding in the coming coming years i. i all over over the United States Utah has managed to remain rel relatively strong and prosperous The challenges faced by Bishop and the administration in inthe inthe inthe the future are to compel lawmakers to prioritize the needs of higher education n. n The c co competition for funding i is fierce Vice President Bishop land and the administration at have vowed to continue trying to improve facil facilities ties ties' while creating a safe and beneficial environment for students and faculty |