As the global financial crisis continues to impact businesses, families and individuals, Fairfield University has revisited their budget for the 2009-2010 school year, though the Budget Committee says they will remain committed to achieving all goals.
‘We are prepared to meet challenges,’ said University President Father Jeffrey P. von Arx.’ ‘Though at the same time we are committed to our strategic plan.’
The University Budget Committee, comprised of the president, faculty, administration and a student body representative, met with students last Monday to present details of the new ‘strategic plan.’
Vice President of Finance William J. Lucas ’69, member of the Committee, described the budget as ‘the toughest one we’ve ever had to put together.’
‘This year we are reallocating almost all of our budget needs,’ he said.’ ‘We are deep into trying to fund the various elements of this.’
Von Arx credited one of the biggest impacts on next year’s operating budget to enrollment, noting that applications decreased 5 percent this year.
He described Fairfield as a tuition dependent institution and said that next year’s tuition will only increase 3.9 percent, the smallest increase since 1973.
Endowment funds are down 20 percent, causing the Budget Committee to reallocate some funds in the operating budget.’
‘Fairfield is fortunate in many respects,’ von Arx said. ‘We’ve always had a fiscally conservative approach.”
Despite the decrease in applicants and funding, the Committee remains committed to increasing financial aid by 10 percent next year.’ Von Arx said that accepting a slightly larger class of 925 first year students will offset this cost.’
The Committee took $2 million from savings and put it into a contingency pool as the first step in the reallocation process.’ This then went into the financial aid plan.
To offset this, von Arx said that the University is deferring all hiring and has implemented a pay freeze across all departments.’
‘We are aware that everyone in our campus community is making sacrifices and we are aware that some of these may be difficult,’ said von Arx. ‘We will emerge on the other side as stronger and more dynamic.”
The new budget plan includes a series of cuts. If the financial climate calls for it, the Committee will make a series of 5 percent cuts.’ If the situation gets worse, they will go to phase two and make 10 percent cuts.
Students present worried that these cuts would impact FUSA and other student life programs and questioned what these cuts would entail.
Vice President of Administrative and Student Affairs Mark C. Reed assured students that ‘one of the reasons we raised tuition to put back into financial aid is to keep the retention rate high,’ and said that student life was important to the Committee.’
‘We want to be strategic in our cuts,’ he said. ‘And we don’t want to cut things that will impact our strategic goals.’
‘The wildcard in all this is the economy,’ Reed added.
The Committee did not specify what they would cut if necessary.’ When pressured by students, the Committee asked what the students would be willing to see cut.
‘It would be very difficult to go to 10 percent cuts and not cut programs,’ said Lucas.’
They assured students that cuts would not be across the board, as that would ‘weaken everything.’ They said if they could find ways to avoid costs instead of cutting costs, they would.’
Jeff Billingham ’09 said that he ‘wished the budget meeting could have been more than just disingenuous reflection about the fact that making budget decisions is difficult.’
‘I get it. It would be the budget committee’s benefit to make known the specifics about potential budget cuts to allow for discussion and debate to take place now,’ he said. ‘Instead of abruptly making brash budget cuts without the University community’s input if such a scenario plays out in the coming months.”
Student leaders at the meeting said that they did not know what programs or funds should get cut before others, and expressed concern that the economic climate would alter life at Fairfield.
‘The core things you came here for will be kept intact,’ said Lucas.
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