Members of the Planning and
Priorities Committee, at the request of President Roger Hull, will begin a
series of discussions with all members of the campus community to elicit ideas
for maintaining a commitment to excellence in a time of financial constraints,
it was announced to the faculty at their meeting on Tuesday.
Union is in a position of relative
strength with stable enrollment, solid fundraising and distinctive features
such as the House System and Converging Technologies, Hull
said.
The College has faced many of the
same challenges as other institutions, he said, adding that we have been able
to avoid drastic measures such as layoffs and salary freezes.
“The ideas that come to the
Planning and Priorities subcommittees will become an important part of the
College's budget planning,” he said. “With imagination and commitment from
faculty, staff and students, I am convinced we face a challenge we will meet.”
Members of the campus community
will receive background about the College's finances before the meetings.
Diane Blake, vice president for
finance, outlined the 2004-05 budget for the faculty. Key components of the
$103 million plan include:
— enrollment of 560 first-year
students
— a fully operational House
System and renovated Ramada Inn
— a new comprehensive fee
— an endowment spending rate
lowered to 7.37 percent, including management fees
— salary and wage increases of 3
percent
— supplies, services and capital
budgets frozen
— funds for deferred maintenance
reduced by $500,000 to $300,000
Blake noted that the College faces
challenges in escalating costs such as benefits and financial aid, and
diminished revenue from a downturn in the stockmarket and cutbacks in
government support. “We have real challenges, but we will solve them as they
evolve,” Blake said.
Also at the faculty meeting Steve
Leavitt, interim dean of students, and Kimmo Rosenthal, dean of undergraduate
education, urged faculty to reach out to students who have academic problems
and refer them to campus resources.
“In the vast majority of cases
when a student does not perform academically, there are broader problems that
we need to address,” said Leavitt. “The whole ethos [of student outreach] is
something we need to do. As a liberal arts college, it is something we need to
do well.”