The College of Engineering spent $791,873 from the Differential Fee accounts (PG11691, PG10932, and PG10477) in FY20 that ended on June 30, 2020. The expenditure level was in line with the revenue generated at the level of $590,543 and a healthy beginning balance of $283,524 attributed to the savings from FY19. The Ending balance of PG11691 (General Program) account registered an ending balance of $51,237 on June 30, 2020. The other two accounts, PG10932 for the undergraduate student scholarships, and PG10477 for the graduate students scholarships, had ending balances of $128,990 and $152,889, respectively. These scholarships were either encumbered or going to be dispersed to the students in FY21.
Differential funds were used primarily in the form of expanded student support services, support for senior students’ capstone (senior) design projects and student junior design competitions, and capital projects to renovate student-centered space and acquire the needed lab facilities. Services made possible by the Differential Fees returned include the Engineering Tutoring Center, scholarships, student professional development opportunities, career services, and expanded support of student organization activities.
Personnel, Graduate Assistants, and Student Workers. Differential fees supported the Engineering Career Services (ECS) through funding for its director ($99,083 for the salary plus applicable benefits) and 1 student worker position. The Differential Fees were also used to support 13 engineering tutors (junior and senior students) for and 10 undergraduate computer science students throughout the fall 2019 and spring 2020 semesters; each student tutor worked around 10 hours per week at a rate of $18/hour. The rates went up by 20% in FY 20 and they were approved by the Differential Fee Oversight Committee in its August 2019 meeting. The total expenditures spent on the student tutors were $128,238.
Financial Aid. The College of Engineering awards scholarships each spring semester for the upcoming academic year. For FY2020, the college received $117,737 for undergraduate scholarships (PG10932 account). Since the program account (PG11691 account) had substantial reserves from the previous fiscal year, $100,000 was transferred to the undergraduate scholarship account with the hope to help more students in need of financial support. The college eventually awarded a total of $112,582 in scholarships in spring 2020 to junior and senior students within the College of Engineering, and additional scholarships were made available to select students taking summer 2020 courses. A transfer of $150,000 from PG11691 account to PG10477 was made to provide extra graduate scholarships. In January 2020, the college selected five Ph.D. students from all four departments within the college, and each of these five students was awarded $25,000 and the payment will be made in FY21. Since FY20 ended on June 30, 2020, these award funds will stay in the scholarship accounts (PG10932 and PG10477) until they get dispersed in fall 2020 and spring 2021.
By the end of June 2020, all the college differential accounts maintained healthy reserves for scholarships.
Student Activities, Events, Awards. The college invested $22,542 on 12 student organizations (UNLV Society of Asian Scientists, Tau Beta Pi Association, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, etc.) in support of their diversified activities, including but not limited to, developing student hands-on projects, traveling to professional conferences, and competing in national/international events. Two student organizations which were approved for funding did not cash their checks by the end of FY20 due to delivery issues caused by the pandemic. These funds shall be made available to the student clubs in the next fiscal year.
In addition, a handful of graduate students requested travel support to attend regional, national, and international conferences. Due to the Corvid-19 pandemic that began in the spring 2020, most conferences went cancelled or made online, and the students were able to claim only $2,877 in their expenditures, much lower than what was awarded.
Participant support. Each semester, the College of Engineering sees tens of student teams enrolling in the senior design (capstone) course and participating in a College wide competition upon completion of their work. In Fall 2019 (in person) and Spring 2020 (virtual), the college gave out $84,454 to senior engineering and computer science students in support of their senior designs. Students used the funds to purchase material and/or cover portion of the manufacturing cost of their prototypes.
Equipment and Hardware requisition. The Differential Fees partially funded a couple of initiatives by the engineering and computer science departments to acquire much needed lab equipment/hardware for their 300/400 level labs. The actual costs were typically split 50/50 between the differential funds and the departments’ own funds. All four departments and the entertainment engineering and design program benefited from this program.
Table 1 below shows the expenditures by typical budget category for FY20
Table 1. FY20 Engineering Differential Fees Expenditures
| FY20 REVENUE | Amount |
|---|---|
| Financial Aid - Scholarship Undergraduate Students | $112,582 |
| Financial Aid - Scholarship Graduate Students | $10,020 |
| Diff Fees - Program Related Expenses | $462,164 |
| FY19 TOTAL REVENUE | $590,543 |
| FY19 EXPENDITURES | |
| Scholarship Undergraduate | $112,582 |
| Scholarship Graduate | $10,020 |
| Career Service & Internship Director / Salary + fringe benefits | $99,083 |
| Tutoring Center / Hourly wages + fringe benefits | $128,238 |
| Student Organizations: Sponsorships | $22,542 |
| Graduate Students: Travel Sponsorships | $2,877 |
| Student Reimbursement: Senior Design Projects | $84,454 |
| General Operations: Labs Support | $13,176 |
| Hosting | $537 |
| Administrative Overhead 3.5% | $16,003 |
| Transfer of funds from PG11691 to PG10932 | $100,000 |
| Transfer of funds from PG11691 to PG10477 | $150,000 |
| FY20 TOTAL EXPENDITURES | $791,873 |
| PG1191 EXPENDITURES | $669,271 |
| BEGINNING BALANCE (July 1, 2019) | $283,524 |
| ENDING BALANCE (June 30, 2020) | $333,116 |