The University Budget Committee held its first town hall meeting Tuesday for the formulation of the budget for the 2008-2009 fiscal year.
Ivy Broder, interim provost, and Don Myers, treasurer and vice president of finance, said the open forum would be crucial in deciding the priorities of the university budget.
"Today is more of a day for looking at the broad guidelines," Myers said.
Currently the budget criteria for the 2006-2007 fiscal years have been analyzed in the context of 16 categories, including pricing, residence hall payments, the 15-Point Plan, financial aid, information technology and the library, according to a report conducted by the committee.
Myers said the categories helped transform the budget hearings from skirmishes among groups into a more collective and holistic process.
"We've been using the budget to carry out the goals of the institution as opposed to the old days where it used to be departmental," he said.
The 15-Point Plan specifies the goals of AU, including scaling down the size of the university to provide better services and attention to students and a new Office of Campus Life, according to the report.
To lower the undergraduate population, the committee hopes for decreased transfer admissions and increased freshman admissions, according to the report.
Thus far, the committee has predicted a 4.5 to 6.5 percent increase in tuition and residence hall prices. Broder and Myers said that to gauge increases in prices and wages, the committee follows the national and international trends of competing institutions and compare it to where they want AU to lie in the ratings.
One of the main discussions centered on the new School of International Service building, mainly its impact on SIS' spending of funds allocated to it. They also discussed the rising utility costs of added buildings.
"[Costs are rising, and with new buildings] we hope we have the best crystal ball to predict what we're going to spend on utilities," Myers said.
The budget will mostly affect students' tuition bills, but there was little showing of the student body at the meeting. Student Government Comptroller Rob Donigian and Graduate Leadership Council President Wade Murphy, who are both on the committee, were unable to attend the meeting.
"Student representatives have to reflect priorities of students - that's why we have [Donigian and Murphy]," Borden said about the inconvenient hour of meeting for students. "So we hope they're holding their own forums."
The budget proposals will go for the first review Nov. 3 and will be finalized by May of next year.
