YSU will fund four Centers of Excellence

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State University will tap some of its budgetary reserves to provide seed money for the creation of four Centers of Excellence on campus.

The YSU Board of Trustees approved the $500,000 appropriation as part of the 2009-10 $150.1 million general fund budget.

The trustees accepted an administration recommendation to develop Centers of Excellence in materials science and engineering, chemical biology, international business and the study of autism.

The list now goes to the Ohio Board of Regents for approval.

The university had hoped to get some state funding assistance to start the programs, but that doesn’t appear likely at this point in the development of Ohio’s biennial budget, said Ikram Khawaja, YSU provost. Ohio legislators and the governor are wrestling with a $3.2 billion budget deficit and have warned of the possibility of extensive cuts in existing programs.

Read more in Tuesday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com