The first item on the Regents' agenda is a motion to go into a closed session for appropriate considerations. When the open session reconvenes, the Board will make an announcement concerning its action during the closed session.

The University's Board of Regents is faced with difficult budgetary decisions. The Regents will consider a $79.2 million budget for FY04 for general operations. The proposed budget is the result of deliberations by the Budget Review Committee which considered a number of factors in preparing the budget, including FY04 state funding projections for Southeast, deferred hiring on vacancies, the voluntary leave without pay program, faculty and staff compensation committee reports, a report from the Budget Review Committee's Benefits subcommittee, fall 2003 enrollment projects, special course fee proposals and incidental fee rates.

The budget to be considered by the Regents calls for a proposed incidental fee increase of $18 per credit hour for resident undergraduates. The Regents also will consider a proposed $1 per credit hour increase in the general fee, a $3 increase in the textbook rental fee, an increase from $3 to $5 in the charge for additional requested transcripts, and the implementation of an alterative certification service charge of $25 beginning with the fall 2003 semester.

The Board also will consider budgets for all auxiliary departments totaling $25.1 million. The auxiliary budgets include funding recommendations for a number of self-supporting enterprises, including Residence Life, Southeast Bookstore, Telecommunications, the Student Recreation Center, Textbook Services, Show Me Center, Parking and Transportation, University Center, Printing Services, KRCU, Cottonwood, Academic refurbishment, Vending Services, the Police Academy, Central Supplies and the Division of Youth Services.

In other action, the Regents will consider approving Faculty Senate bills concerning tenure and promotion policies, a revision to the University's Severe Weather Policy, the Policy on Student Rights and Conduct, and the FY2005 capital budget request.

The Board also is expected to consider a motion to approve a Community Day Center partnership that would provide more opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to have experiential learning opportunities in the University's Child Enrichment Center. The center provides quality child care for children of University students, faculty and staff.

The proposed partnership would decrease the waiting list for students, faculty and staff seeking child care through the University's Child Enrichment Center and would establish a structure for the University's Child Enrichment Center to be fiscally self-sufficient. Under the proposal, the University would rent space for the program in a facility at 1912 Broadway, and the center would be relocated from its current site in the Scully Building.

The University's Child Enrichment Center provides experiential learning activities for undergraduate students in courses of Child Development, Child Care & Guidance, Early Childhood Education, Communication Disorders, Nutrition, Nursing, Recreation, Physical Education, and Psychology programs, plus a training and research venue for graduate students in the master's degree program in human environmental studies education.

The Board will hear a report from the President that will include information on: Kenneth W. Dobbins, president of Southeast Missouri State University, being elected president of Missouri's Council on Public Higher Education; the River Campus groundbreaking ceremony; the McNair grant award; marketing and publication awards received by University Relations; and a progress report on contracts and Facilities Management projects.

The Regents also will receive informational materials, including a report on replacement of the administrative software system, and a Wall Street Journal article on tuition costs.

The Board will then consider a motion to go into a closed session for appropriate considerations. When the open session reconvenes, the final item on the agenda will be consideration of a motion to adjourn.