To pay for a desperately needed Student Information System and other technological upgrades, Ohio University could turn to increases in the student general fee, according to upper-level administrators at last night’s Graduate Student Senate meeting.

Replacing the Student Information System will cost a projected $23 million, said Brice Bible, chief information officer.

The system, which processes transactions such as bill payments and applications, is more than 15 years old and will need to be replaced in a year and half, when OU’s current system goes offline.

The company that owns the software has gone out of business and will only support the system at OU for a year and a half longer. The system would also need to be replaced to accommodate a switch from quarters to semesters, Bible said.

The Board of Trustees is expected to approve the transition to semesters at its meeting this week.

“If you need to replace it, you just need to get in there and do it,” he said.

The IT network, which includes the physical wires and wireless connection used for internet access, also needs to be updated. The current network is 7 years old, and generally should be replaced after 4 years, Bible said. This upgrade is projected to cost an additional $17 million.     

“This is a huge undertaking,” said Bill Decatur, senior vice president for Finance and Administration. “It’s a big number that we believe deserves an open discussion.”

Decatur and Bible will be presenting their plans to the board on Thursday and where they will begin discussing options to fund these projects.

They are considering a 10-year bond of $6 million annual payments. To pay this each year, Decatur said most likely OU would increase the general fee while making cuts in other areas. He wants to be able to present a financial plan to the board at their January meeting.

“We have some concerns about how this might affect student fees,” said Stephan Oechsle, vice president for committees and legislative affairs. “We’ll be waiting anxiously to see where the conversation goes.”

Pete Wickman, senate president, added that they spent a lot of time last year trying to bring down the general fee.
Without cutting other areas, student general fees could increase 17 or 18 percent, Decatur said, adding that he doesn’t find that “feasible.”

“What’s the right balance between student fee and reallocation?” he said.

Bible said it would take about 18 months to put the system in place, so he would like to identify funding and a consultant by March. There would be at least a six-month gap with no system completely in place after the old system dissolves, but there are ways for OU to work with the current system until a new one is finalized.

At the board meeting, they will discuss borrowing up to $100 million, with the money not destined for technological upgrades going to finance programs outside of IT, Decatur said. The discussion is only for planning purposes — no decisions will be made.

Wickman said he is concerned with the vagueness of what the $100 million would be used for outside of IT and is worried about the potential for cuts in other areas.

“I’m fairly convinced this is going to have to happen.”