Engineering Resource Fee Funds and Their Place in the Overall COE Budget

Last Revised: January 2007

Background
The College of Engineering (COE) first implemented an Engineering Resource Fee (ERF) approximately ten years ago so that computer facilities and support, as well as other laboratory activities, could be adequately funded. The current fee is instrumental in helping the COE maintain the quality of current services and continue the momentum of the past few years of increasing overall quality -- despite the erosion of the base academic budget (Education and General Funds listed below).
The total of projected budgets in the COE for FY07 is about $49 Million. The sources of the funds are as follows:

• Overall Academic Budget Through Provost’s Office -- ~ $22.7M
• Education and General Funds [State funds and tuition that fund the academic program] -- $13.9M
• ETIC (Engineering and Technology Industry Council) directed funds [State funds allocated for increasing capacity and improving quality] -- $4.6M
• ERF [Student paid funds for quality in present programs] -- $3.19M
• Returned Overhead (ROH) [Returned overhead from externally funded research to support the research infrastructure] -- $1M
• Private Funds through OSU Foundation [Funds for scholarships, faculty, faculty development and various program expenses] -- ~$2.3M
• Externally funded research programs [For contracted research] -- $23.1M

The COE’s overall academic program budget, exclusive of the external research but including private funds, stated as $22.7M above is, more precisely, $22,711,615. This is an increase of about $388,000 (+1.8%) compared to FY06. These budget totals include ERF funds of about $3.1M for FY06 and an estimate (as of December 2006) of $3.19M for FY07.
Distribution and Projected Expenditure of ERF Funds
The ERF funds are distributed as follows:

• 78% directly to each department based on the specific department’s total student credit hours (SCH) taught relative to the total taught in the College.
• Balance to the College for allocation to college-wide efforts and special needs: IT was allocated 16% of the total ERF; the remaining 6% was allocated to special needs of specific departments.

Overall, the projected expenditure of ERF funds during FY07 are as follows:

• Personnel [IT Professionals, Instructional Faculty, Classified Support Staff, Student Help, and GTAs] ~75%
• Supplies and Services ~10%
• Capital Expenditures [Laboratories and Major Equipment] ~ 15%

Increase in ERF for FY06
A slight increase in the ERF was introduced for FY06 to cover cost increases resulting from two years of inflation since the last increase. Specifically, the increase was $13 per term for full time students in the pre-engineering and professional engineering programs. [Part time students pay a prorated amount for up to 10 credits.]  There was no increase in the ERF fee in FY07.