Legislative wrap: Higher ed

Faculty and staff at Utah's 10 public colleges and universities received increases in compensation that were expected, prompting Interim Commissioner Dave Buhler to term them "fair under the circumstances."

In addition to an overall 4.7 percent budget increase, each institution "got something," Buhler said. The only additional money was a $2 million fulfillment of a $10 million commitment made last year to fund the transition of Utah Valley State College to a full-fledged university.

No new campus buildings were approved, except for the University of Utah's Natural History Museum, which received $25 million in funding. Lawmakers paid off a $1.6 million bond for Snow College and funded some non-state buildings, including parking structures. An approval for the Utah State University Agriculture building was made contingent upon receipt of federal money.

Legislators made a "modest investment," Buhler said, in the Regent's Scholarship, to get it off the ground in its first year.