New State Budget – Oct. 2015

To NC State Faculty, Staff, and Students:

As you are well aware, North Carolina continues to recover from the Great Recession and NC State is no different. Our university has faced state appropriation reductions year-after-year. However, the recently signed state budget does contain some favorable provisions.

Some additions to the budget include:

• Full funding for enrollment growth and building reserves.
• $1 million nonrecurring funding in both years for advance planning for the NC State Engineering Oval building
• $150 million for repairs and renovations
• Provides in-state tuition for veterans

The budget does contain several appropriation reductions, but we will do our best to minimize their impact. They include:

• $17.9 million recurring reduction in management flexibility funds in FY15-16
• $43 million recurring management flexibility reduction and $3 million nonrecurring in FY16-17
• $16 million cut associated with Advancement operations in the second year of the budget (This provision caps the use of general fund appropriations for Advancement at $1 million per campus)

We are very grateful to the legislature for their support of two very important NC State projects – the Engineering Oval and the Plant Sciences building. Both of these projects will be on the capital bond package that citizens will vote on in March. We are the only university in the UNC System to have more than one building in the bond. Clearly, the General Assembly recognizes the importance of these projects to NC State as well as the people and economy of North Carolina.

The Engineering Oval and the Plant Sciences building are both critical to our ability to further build upon our success in engineering and the life sciences.

The Engineering Oval will house the Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering; the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering; and the College administration as well as an Engineering Education Center that includes student advising and other student services. This new marquee building will help move the College closer to unification on Centennial and leverage the power of convergence across disciplines.

Meanwhile, The Plant Sciences Building is the first step in our interdisciplinary systems

approach that combines North Carolina’s agriculture and biosciences assets and concentrates them in a new world-class research complex. Researchers will create solutions that will lead to increased crop yields, nutrition diversification, sustainability and an extended growing season.

These two facilities are important to the future of this university and I encourage the NC State community to support them.

We know there are some fiscal challenges in the second year of the budget, as it stands. But again, we will continue to work with legislative leaders in an effort to reduce the impacts.

As always, I thank you for all you do for this great university, and I will continue to pursue the resources needed to continue our success as a research university and economic engine for the people of North Carolina.

Thank you,

Randy Woodson

Chancellor