When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled his 2006-07 budget proposal last week, many on campus were elated to find funding to offset rising student fees.

Under the governor's spending plan, the state would "buy out" or cover the cost of the planned 8-percent systemwide fee increase for undergraduates next year.

"We are pleased that this budget draft addresses the importance of student accessibility to higher education in California," said Kelly Ratliff, assistant vice chancellor for budget resource management.

Beyond covering the 8-percent fee increase, Ratliff explained, the governor's budget would also eliminate a 10 percent increase in mandatory systemwide fees for graduate academic students and 5 to 10 percent increases (dollar amounts varying by school) for most professional school students. A 5 percent nonresident tuition hike for undergraduates would not be affected by the governor's plan.

Still, student fees will rise next year at UC Davis, Ratliff said. The reason is that students on each UC campus have the prerogative to vote to pay for future programs, services and facilities. At UC Davis, students have done this in years past to fund projects like the new multi-use stadium, the D-I transition and student health programs. As a result, fee totals are slightly higher here than elsewhere in the UC system.

In 2006-07, these campus-based fees at UC Davis will amount to $1,442, up $127 from $1,315 a year ago. About half of that increase is due to student-approved fees to pay for the new stadium slated to open next fall. As a result, the total cost of undergraduate resident fees next year — without factoring in health insurance — will be $7,583, an increase of 2 percent.

The governor's budget includes funding that, when combined with other university revenue sources, will provide an average 4 percent increase in employee compensation (salary and benefits) in 2006-07, subject to collective bargaining requirements.

Ratliff said how this will be allocated — how much of a percentage increase individual employees will receive, and how the increase will be divided between salary and benefits — will be decided later in the year once the UC budget process is complete.

"We are just beginning the budgetary season," said Ratliff. "Much more will be known after the Legislature deliberates on the budget this spring and summer and when the UC finalizes its own budget."

With the budget and recent efforts, the campus is making strides to improve graduate student support, Ratliff said. In the year ahead, UC Davis will use supplemental block funding to buy down the fees and tuition — a 25 percent reduction — for graduate student researchers with extramural funds from an outside agency.

Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw has emphasized the value of graduate student support in recent years, taking budgetary action to make graduate study at UC Davis more attractive and affordable.

On top of this, the UC Board of Regents recently proposed the elimination of non-resident tuition for students who have advanced to candidacy and are working only on their dissertation. Ratliff estimated this will save principal investigators, or researchers, and their non-resident graduate students about $1.5 million in fees they had to pay in years past.

Significantly, the budget earmarks a $218 million expansion and renovation of King Hall at the UC Davis School of Law.

"This is wonderful news from the Governor's Office," said Rex Perschbacher, dean of the law school. "It has been a long and winding road for the law school's plans to expand and renovate King Hall."

On other fronts, Ratliff said UC Davis is facing lingering budgetary issues such as a projected $12 million purchased utilities deficit for the year ahead and escalating deferred maintenance costs.

Overall, the budget calls for more funding of UC enrollment growth, science and math teacher training, and UC health care activity in underserved regions of the state. Toward the latter, UC Davis will launch a program focusing on health care for rural underserved areas of Northern California.

The governor's budget proposal can be found at www.ebudget.ca.gov.