As universities across the country struggle to negotiate the doldrums of a struggling economy, a group of activist professors at Fairfield called for an independent study of the university’s finances.
Citing the fact that “Something seems to be seriously wrong in the planning process” at Fairfield, the Faculty Welfare Committee (FWC), in an April 11 newsletter, “want a full and independent study of the finances of the institution.”
Dr. George Lang, a mathematics professor and vice president of the FWC, said a number of factors contributed to the request, like the administration’s imposition of a merit pay plan that was delayed this year due to budget shortfalls. This year, faculty and staff were given across the board $500 salary increases, as opposed to a normal cost of living adjustment.
“Before the faculty accepts a salary increase noticeably below the cost of living increase they should see what the whole picture is,” said Lang. “We did see something like this a number of years ago and had somebody do a financial analysis. They did a presentation to the whole faculty and members of the administration, and I think it was educational to the faculty to see just what finance decisions were made.”
The FWC’s request for a review of Fairfield’s finances come at a time of financial hardship among higher education institutions across the country, but Vice President of Finance William Lucas said despite the economic downturn Fairfield is still in a strong position.
“I do not accept that we’re in any financial difficulty,” Lucas said. “We’re financially strong and stable.”
Lucas went on to say that Fairfield is in a relatively better position than institutions like Boston College and Notre Dame with much larger endowments than Fairfield because such larger schools invest their endowments in the stock market, whereas Fairfield is still a tuition-driven institution. The decline of the stock market, as a result, has impacted larger institutions more negatively than Fairfield.
“There are schools that have been weakened by this economic downturn,” said Lucas. “Schools with larger endowments that we all want to be are hurting more.”
Lucas also said that in order to keep the school from increasing tuition too much and still keeping a balanced budget, the university had to allocate resources in a way that did not please every faculty member, but still kept Fairfield on the right track.
He also expressed doubt over how effective an outside analysis of Fairfield’s finances would be, citing the fact that there is already a “pretty thorough review of what goes on” in the budget process by the university’s budget committee, and also the fact that an outside consultant would not have Fairfield’s long-term goals in mind while making a report.
“Someone could come in to look at the numbers without a detailed understanding of what we do,” said Lucas. “We could cut $300,000 out of the financial aid budget and still get a class. Would it be the same class? No. The budget is a bunch of numbers. It really represents in numerical terms all the planning, strategic and long-term, that goes on at Fairfield.”
Academic Vice President Dr. Orin Grossman agreed with Lucas. “Regarding an ‘independent’ financial review-that is not useful,” he said. “The budget committee, which includes faculty members, has access to all university operating budgets. The issues in budgeting are very complex. It is always possible to bring in a consultant and determine you could save money, but at what cost?”
“As a good friend of mine, a consultant himself, once told me, the definition of a consultant is someone who borrows your watch to tell you the time,” Grossman also said. “The FWC asserts that we are in a financial crisis, and demands a consultant. Well, we aren’t in a financial crisis, and saying that we are doesn’t prove the point. All of our financial indicators are sound. We’ll have some tight operating budget years, but that is by no means a crisis.”
Lang disagreed. “An outside person isn’t there to analyze the goals, they’re there to point out as objectively as possible what is happening,” he said. “An outside person is in a better position to present an objective thing of what is going on.”
Leave a Reply