At its annual commencement weekend meeting, the Board of Trustees signed off on a $2.3 billion operating budget for the next fiscal year.
The budget—up 3.6 percent from last year's figure—provides funds for investments in programs, initiatives and construction projects and includes a $494 million capital budget for long-term investments. Major projects expected to be funded using the capital budget include the new Student Health and Wellness Center, new $100-million engineering and physics facility expected to break ground in 2016 and continued renovations to West Union, Perkins Library, Wallace Wade Stadium and the R. David Thomas Center at the Fuqua School of Business.
"The budget adopted for the next fiscal year recognizes that the University has recovered substantially from the economic shocks of recent years, and that strong endowment returns and prudent management will make it possible to invest in strategic priorities to enhance academic and student life in coming years," Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations, wrote in an email Saturday.
To accommodate the 3.8 percent tuition increase the Board approved at its last meeting in late February, the budget includes $137 million for institutional financial aid for undergraduate students—a 3.6 percent increase from last year's total.
Because of the University's need-blind admissions policy that requires Duke to meet demonstrated need for admitted students from the U.S., the amount of aid offered is likely to continue to keep pace with rising tuition costs. Also included in the budget is an $11 million estimate of external scholarship and need-based aid support from federal, state and other sources.
Currently approximately 50 percent of undergraduates receive some sort of financial support, most of which is need-based aid. The average aid provided to such recipients during the 2014-15 year was around $42,000.
In other business:
The Board met in downtown Durham to discuss the relationship between Duke and Durham and the University's role in addressing challenges related to education, biomedical research and economic development. As part of the discussion on innovation, faculty members who have initiated research programs in renovated buildings in downtown Durham like the Carmichael Building addressed the Board.
"There was an extensive discussion of Duke’s role in helping to stimulate development in downtown Durham by being an early tenant in American Tobacco, providing significant funding for the construction of [the Durham Performing Arts Center] so it could accommodate Duke Performances and American Dance Festival as well as theatre and music, supporting the rehabilitation of West Village, and moving what is now close to 3,000 employees to the downtown core," Schoenfeld wrote.
Schoenfeld noted that the University's actions in supporting the city have sparked activity downtown that has spread elsewhere, explaining that "now with the move of biomedical research labs and the [Innovation and Entrepreneurship] headquarters to the Innovation District, we expect that will only continue to advance."
Durham Mayor Bill Bell, Bob Geolas, president and CEO of the Research Triangle Foundation of North Carolina, and Adam Klein, chief strategist of American Underground—a startup incubator located in downtown Durham—also took part in the discussion about the revitalization of the city and Duke's role in the process.
Phail Wynn, vice president of Durham and regional affairs, reviewed current and future activities such as the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership, collaboration efforts with Durham Public Schools and a long-standing alliance with Self Help Credit to help low-income individuals purchase homes and businesses, Schoenfeld wrote in the email.
As they do every year during their commencement weekend meeting, the Trustees approved the awarding of degrees to undergraduate, graduate and professional students.
Update: This article was updated at 2:40 p.m. Saturday to include Schoenfeld's comments.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.