YSU Trustees Appoint Interim Provost, OK Budget

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The Youngstown State University Board of Trustees approved the appointment of an interim provost, tuition plan and a new budget at its quarterly meeting Thursday.

Joseph Mosca, dean of the Bitonte College of Health and Human Services, was named interim provost following the departure of Martin Abraham in May. Mosca has been dean of the college since 2009 and a faculty member since 1989.

YSU President Jim Tressel and the Board of Trustees will appoint an advisory committee to find a permanent provost.

Trustees also approved a $181.75 million operating budget for fiscal year 2019, an increase of 3.2% from fiscal 2018. The budget includes a $3.5 million increase for nonathletic scholarships, 2.5% salary increase for faculty and a 2% increase for classified staff.

The budget assumes a 1.5% increase in enrollment and a 1.2% increase – $502,000 – in state funding, as well as increased investment earnings.

Also approved was a freeze on tuition for continuing students and incoming students in the Penguin Promise tuition program. Full-time undergraduate tuition will remain at $4,044 per semester for in-state students, $4,224 for students in the Affordable Tuition Advantage area and $7,077 for those outside the area.

Through the Penguin Promise program, tuition for incoming graduate students is guaranteed for four consecutive academic years: $4,450 for in-state students, $4,630 for those in the tuition advantage area and $7,450 for out-of-area students.

Tuition for students in master’s programs will rise $103 per semester, while doctoral programs will rise $309.

The board also approved YSU’s fourth doctorate program, a Ph.D. in health sciences from the department of physical therapy. The new program will be lead by physical therapy professor Ken Learman. A recent assessment found nearly 75% of past physical therapy students and half of other health-professions alumni were interested in applying to the doctorate-level program.

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