For Immediate Release 11 May 2001

Universities Redirect Funds to Internal Improvements

VERMILLION—The state universities have made significant changes by internally reallocating their funds, the South Dakota Board of Regents was told today at its regular business meeting on the campus of the University of South Dakota. Under a program called Reinvestment Through Efficiencies, the universities have redirected $56.9 million since 1996 to objectives set by the Regents. The Regents approved FY02 university Reinvestment spending plans today.

"The Reinvestment program encourages the universities to fund creative new ideas," said Regents President Harvey C. Jewett, Aberdeen. "Some of these ideas are attracting national attention. In 1999 the University of South Dakota redirected internal funds to create the Missouri River Institute. With the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the Missouri River Institute will host visitors and activities."

Jewett added that in 2000 the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology received the Boeing Outstanding Educator Award. Its Center of Excellence for Advanced Manufacturing and Production, created and maintained with Reinvestment funds, was recognized for outstanding undergraduate engineering education.

Regents Executive Director Robert T. Tad Perry said that the 1995 South Dakota Legislature adopted resolutions to encourage the Regents to develop a long-term plan to support efficiencies in operations at all of the institutions under the Regents’ control. "As a result, the Board worked with the universities to identify both financial and human resources to be redirected to achieve objectives the Regents thought were important to South Dakota," said Perry.

The objectives, adopted by the Board in January 1996, are:

• to provide the universities with the technology infrastructure needed for the 21^st Century;
• to provide the faculty with resources necessary to redesign courses for delivery through inter-institutional collaboration and technology delivery both on- and off-campus;
• to maintain the value of the investment in equipment assets and to achieve compliance with state and federal regulations relating to health and safety standards and to program accessibility standards;
• to invest in activities that will enhance and stimulate the economic development of South Dakota;
• to enhance and support relationships between the state universities and the public school system;
• to invest in changing systems or practices of higher education; and
• to provide resources to make selected academic programs of national or international program quality through centers of excellence.

Reinvestments are increased annually to adjust for inflation. The Regents approved the FY02 spending plans of the universities, totaling $10.5 million. Perry said that while the total amount that each university commits to the Reinvestment program stays about the same each year, the universities have been given the flexibility to move the funds around among six of the seven objectives. That is the reason, he added, that the Regents review the spending plans and approve the proposals.

Jewett observed that technology impacts the allocation of these funds. "Technology infrastructure includes communications systems, instructional hardware and software, and access to research resources around the world. The allocation to upgrading and maintaining our investment in technology will receive about 16% of the Reinvestment funds. Combine that with the 28% earmarked to redesigning the curriculum to integrate technology into instruction. Each university created an office or center to work with faculty to assist them in technology integration. These are funded with Reinvestment dollars. The pace of change in technology is phenomenal. We have to ensure that our students have opportunities to learn, using the most current technology in their fields," Jewett said.

Another major activity funded with Reinvestment funds includes summer institutes to train teachers who will teach Advanced Placement (AP) courses in their high schools. The institutes assist teachers to develop the courses so their students will be well-prepared for the AP examinations. High school students who pass AP exams with acceptable scores can receive college credit for those courses when they enroll in universities. All six South Dakota public universities accept AP credits.

The universities also offered in the 2000-01 school year 69 courses for high school students using satellite, cable television, the Internet, and the Digital Dakota Network. Through these courses students can earn college credit while still in high school.

The Regents do not allow the universities to reduce funding for their respective centers of excellence. In FY02 the centers of excellence will receive 35% of the allocations. The centers are:

• Black Hills State University – Mathematics and Science Education
• Dakota State University – Computer Information Systems
• Northern State University – International Business
• South Dakota School of Mines and Technology – Advanced Manufacturing and Production
• South Dakota State University – Polytechnic; Biostress
• University of South Dakota – Civic Leadership; Disaster Mental Health
• USD School of Medicine – Primary Care Ambulatory Medical Student Education

For more information contact: Dr. Robert T. Tad Perry, Executive Director, or Dr. Paul Gough, Director of Policy and Planning, (605) 773-3455.

Attachments to this release include:

• FY02 Allocation of Resources (pie chart)