The Florida Board of Governors discussed a new model for enrollment funding at its June 19 meeting, and the model could benefit UF if implemented in the coming years.
The current model determines funding for universities based on the budget from the previous year plus the number of additional students admitted, said Nate Johnson, the board's executive director of planning and analysis.
That may not be the best way to determine how much funding a university needs, Johnson said. Large public schools, such as UF, are scaling back admissions to cope with state revenue shortfalls.
The new model, which Johnson hopes to develop by 2010, would be based on the needs of each student, not just the number of new admissions, and it would give attention to faculty wages and utility increases.
The proposed weighting system would also account for different majors, as the expense to educate students can vary based on their fields of study, Johnson said.
The new plan is not infallible, however, and still depends on available state funds.
In other business, the board decided to revise a controversial proposal that would have given it a role in presidential affairs.
The board decided to strike "presidential selection" from its proposed regulation after many governors spoke against it.
The board still plans to propose having a role in annual presidential evaluations, which has traditionally been the responsibility of boards of trustees.
Diana Morgan, chairwoman of the UF Board of Trustees, said UF already goes to the Board of Governors for verbal feedback on evaluations.
"I think there is some question as to whether it is needed to be part of a regulation when in fact it has been a practice," Morgan said.
The trustees are not worried yet, she said.
"At this point, I don't think we're going to express concern because we really don't know what the proposal will include," she said.
At the end of the meeting, the board also voted to make Sheila McDevitt the new chairwoman.
The former vice chairwoman will replace Carolyn Roberts, who will still serve on the board.
