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Auburn University will operate with its largest budget yet for fiscal year 2022.

On September 10, the university’s board of trustees approved the budget of $ 1.541 billion, an increase of $ 56.9 million or 3.84% from fiscal 2021, which included an increase 3% on merit for employees.

Almost 85% of the proposed budget, or $ 1,305.8 million, is for the main campus, with $ 103.6 million for Auburn University at Montgomery, $ 67.6 million for the cooperative extension system from Alabama and $ 64 million for the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station.

Kelli Shomaker, vice president of business and finance and chief financial officer, said tuition fees and state credits remain the main sources of income for the university, accounting for nearly 67% of the total budget.

With a significant increase in state appropriations of $ 19.9 million, Auburn was able to keep tuition fees unchanged for the 2022 fiscal year. Even though tuition fees did not increase, an increase in enrollment did. created an additional $ 13.3 million in tuition and income. Additionally, Auburn has budgeted for a continued increase in grant and contract revenue of $ 14.1 million as it continues to advance research initiatives.

The largest increase in spending is on personnel, which increased by $ 35.9 million, or 6.36%. The budget includes a 3% merit pool, as well as increases for promotions of job and faculty families and new faculty and administrative positions, including $ 800,000 for cybersecurity roles. Auburn also budgeted an additional $ 5.5 million in financial aid for students, mostly based on need.

The council also agreed to designate 16 acres of campus space for the creation of the Agricultural College’s transformation garden.

The garden, which will be located between Lem Morrison Drive and Woodfield Drive, will serve as a teaching and outreach space for the college. Students will be able to use the space to gain hands-on experience with the latest industry practices, and research professors will be able to tackle key challenges. The garden can also be a production facility for Auburn’s Campus Dining program.

The Transformation Garden will be developed in several phases over the next few years. Facilities management is now authorized to begin the process of selecting architects.

The council also agreed to a plan to support the garden project. By extending Duncan Drive between Lem Morrison and Woodfield, the garden can be established along the east side of Duncan’s new stretch, connecting the Davis Arboretum to the Jay and Susie Gogue Performing Arts Center.

The road expansion and infrastructure project provides for the creation of a two-lane campus road with bike paths, sidewalks, street lighting, overhead electricity, storm sewers and domestic water pipes. . It also includes site grading, stormwater management, and installation of utility infrastructure to support the adjacent processing garden.

A community greenway, located among the gardens, would also link the arboretum and the performing arts center and allow future connections with the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Arts and Town Creek Park in the town of Auburn.

To facilitate an expedited design process, Facilities Management recommended LBYD Engineers of Birmingham, Alabama, as the project engineer. The company designed several Auburn facilities and infrastructure projects and worked on the initial planning efforts for this project.

As part of its procedures specified in the Name Removal and Contextualization Policy, the Board of Trustees agreed to add a commemorative plaque to Wallace Hall to contextualize the university’s decision to retain the building name. The facility opened in 1984, during Wallace’s fourth and final term as governor of Alabama.

Administrator Elizabeth Huntley, who co-chairs the Administrators Working Group with Administrator James Pratt, acknowledged that Wallace’s political history was “complex” and noted that he sought to come to terms with the past over the course of time. his last term.

The four-member task force, which made the recommendation to the board, had previously called for naming the Auburn Student Center in honor of Harold D. Melton, the first president of the African American Student Government Association. of Auburn and then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia.

Huntley added that the task force also requested that the area around the historic desegregation marker be improved. The marker tells the story of Harold Franklin. It is located near the Ralph Brown Draughon Library, where Franklin first enrolled in 1964, becoming Auburn’s first African-American student.

The university had planned to hold an event with Franklin to celebrate the creation of the new plaza that bears his name next to the marker. Sadly, Franklin passed away on September 9. He was 88 years old.

Interim President Bob Dumas opened the board meeting with grim news and praised Franklin as a trailblazer.

Huntley said the event would go ahead as planned in November, in the presence of Franklin’s son.

This latest action is part of a larger Auburn initiative to promote opportunity and fairness. The

The Trustees Working Group was formed last summer to assess the history and context of the named buildings and structures on university property.

In other cases, the board has decided to:

  • Grant final approval to the Lowder Hall Collaborative Financial Leadership Lab renovation project, which will convert approximately 4,000 square feet of existing space at Lowder into two financial labs. The estimated cost of $ 3.5 million will be funded by the Harbert College of Business. INOX Design from Marietta, Georgia, has already been selected by the project architect.

  • Cancel plan to renovate Ham Wilson Arena to a facilities management training center, and instead demolish the arena, initiate a project to build a new training center within the facilities management complex and select JMR + H Architecture of Montgomery, Alabama, as the architect project.

  • Build an addition to the North Auburn College of Veterinary Medicine equine research facility. The current program operates from temporary facilities, which no longer support the future growth of the federally funded research program. The proposed project will provide modern facilities to match research capabilities with grant funding opportunities. It is expected that the project will be funded by funds from the College of Veterinary Medicine.

  • Buy 0.74 acres at 842 S. College St., at the northwest corner of the intersection of South College Street and Woodfield Drive in Auburn. The action will allow the university to control one side of the intersection, allowing for road widening, turning lanes and an aesthetic improvement at a major campus entry point.

  • Close the study program for a Bachelor of Science in Food Science in the Department of Poultry Science at the College of Agriculture.

  • Establish the curriculum for a doctorate in physiotherapy at the School of Kinesiology of the College of Education.

  • Posthumously award a Bachelor of Science in Aviation Management to Kylie Nicole Murray, who died on July 31. A senior in aviation management, Murray was in good standing and would have graduated in December.

Provost Bill Hardgrave presented information to council on the creation of new undergraduate certificates in financial planning, Department of Consumer and Design Sciences, College of Humanities; and Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, College of Liberal Arts; as well as a new Graduate Certificate in World Public Service, Department of Political Science, College of Liberal Arts.

For the Athletics Directorate, the Board of Directors elected:

  • Begin the next phase of the Plainsman Park Player Development Center and initiate the architect selection process. Aiming to improve the fan experience, the project will include high-end seating upgrades above the new Player Development Center, as well as additional seating, new toilets, concessions, a covered pavilion and connection to the existing seating hall. Athletics is expected to fund the project through bonds and donations.

  • Launch the project and initiate the process of selecting architects to renovate the women’s basketball locker rooms at Auburn Arena. This project includes improvements to the team meeting areas, video review lab, team lounge, nutrition area, coaches locker room, and washrooms. Athletics is expected to finance the project with bond funds.

  • Renovate areas for gymnastics and softball teams within the McWhorter Center. The project will modernize the current space to effectively support the development of student-athletes and enable these programs to compete nationally at the highest level. Athletics is expected to fund the project with bonds and donations.

For Auburn University in Montgomery, the Board of Trustees has decided to: