The College of Engineering spent $623,140 from the Differential Fee accounts (PG11691, PG10932, and PG10477) in FY21 that ended on June 30, 2021. The expenditure level was in line with the revenue generated at the level of $654,352 and a healthy beginning balance of $332,194 attributed to the savings and conservative spending in FY20. The Ending balance of PG11691 (General Program) account registered an ending balance of $191,195 on June 30, 2021. The other two accounts, PG10932 for the undergraduate student scholarships, and PG10477 for the graduate students scholarships, had ending balances of $192,567 and $40,337, respectively. These scholarships were either encumbered or going to be dispersed to the students in FY22.
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. Services made possible by the Differential Fees returned include the Engineering Tutoring Center, scholarships, and career services.
Personnel, Graduate Assistants, and Student Workers. Differential fees supported the Engineering Career Services (ECS) through funding for its director ($97,596 for the salary plus applicable benefits) and 1 student worker position. The Differential Fees were also used to support 11 undergraduate engineering tutors (junior and senior students) covering a wide range of engineering and computer science subjects, and each student tutor worked around 10 hours per week at a rate of $18/hour. In addition, a few graduate students in engineering and computer science were hired throughout the fall 2020 and spring 2021 semesters to help teach/tutor engineering physics, calculus, and select engineering courses.
Financial Aid. The College of Engineering awards scholarships each spring semester for the upcoming academic year. For FY2021, the college received $132,303 for undergraduate scholarships (PG10932 account). Since the program account (PG11691 account) had maintained a healthy reserve from the previous fiscal year, and there was a growing need to support students in need of financial support amid an ongoing pandemic, $60,000 was transferred to the undergraduate scholarship account. The college eventually disbursed a total of $128,125 in scholarships in FY21 to junior and senior students within the College of Engineering. In January 2020, the college selected five Ph.D. students from all four departments within the college, and these students received their payments in FY21, which brings the total annual expenditures to $122,500.
By the end of June 2021, all the college differential accounts maintained healthy reserves for scholarships.
Student Activities, Events, Awards. Because the Corvid-19 pandemic, the differential fee committee withheld the support for student clubs. The only exception was given BAJA Rebel Racing Team to participate in two races in April and May 2021 at the support level of $2,500.
No graduate students were supported for conference travels as there was a travel restriction put forth by the university.
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 2020 and Spring 2021, the college gave out $11,243 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. Some students may receive their reimbursement funds in FY22 due to late submission of their paperwork.
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. Due to the pandemic, majority of the labs were held virtually, and the expenditures in this category were significantly lower than what had incurred in FY20.
Table 1 below shows the expenditures by typical budget category for FY21
Table 1. FY21 Engineering Differential Fees Expenditures
| FY21 - ENGINEERING DIFFERENTIAL FEES | |
| FY21 REVENUE | Amount |
|---|---|
| Financial Aid - Scholarship Undergraduate Students | 192,303 |
| Financial Aid - Scholarship Graduate Students | 9,948 |
| Diff Fees - Program Related Expenses | 512,102 |
| FY21 TOTAL REVENUE | 714,352 |
| FY21 EXPENDITURES | |
| Scholarship Undergraduate | 128,125 |
| Scholarship Graduate | 122,500 |
| Director Career Services / Salary + fringe benefits | 97,596 |
| Graduate Salaries + fringe benefits | 25,823 |
| Tutoring Center / Hourly wages + fringe benefits | 91,458 |
| Student Organizations: Sponsorships | 2,500 |
| Graduate Students: Travel Sponsorships | 0 |
| Junior Design Projects | 0 |
| Student Reimbursement and Awards: Senior Design Projects | 11,243 |
| Materials Labs Support | 1,197 |
| Equipment Labs Support | 4,794 |
| Hosting | 0 |
| TBE Students Back Yard Project | 60,000 |
| VT-Out Scholarships Undergraduate | 60,000 |
| VT-Out Scholarships Graduate | 0 |
| Administrative Overhead 3.5% | 17,904 |
| FY21 TOTAL EXPENDITURES | 623,140 |
| DIFF | 91,212 |
| BEGINNING BALANCE | 332,194 |
| BUDGET ADJ | 693 |
| ENDING BALANCE | 424,099 |