UT President Joe DiPietro presented UT’s top funding priorities Wednesday to Governor Bill Haslam for consideration in his proposed spending plan for the 2016-2017 fiscal year. The governor’s budget hearings serve as a launch point for the state’s budgeting process—all state departments, agencies, and entities present their upcoming budget priorities—requests that the governor weighs as he compiles his annual spending plan. That plan is traditionally presented to the legislature in late January or early February, around the time of the State of the State Address.
DiPietro’s requests included: increased funding to bring more top scientists to UT; including UT employees in the compensation plan for state employees; recurring funding for software to centralize data; one-time funding for a new big data graduate program; full funding of the performance-based higher education funding formula; funding for needed new buildings on campuses; a 4.7 percent overall funding increase for institutions that provide services to all Tennesseans; and funding for the Institute of Agriculture to advance rural Tennessee’s economy through the Governor’s Rural Challenge.
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Read more about President DiPietro’s funding requests on the UT Advocacy blog.