Correction Appended Below

More than 100 Washington University students, faculty and staff gathered in Edison Theatre yesterday morning to hear Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton’s “State of the University Address” on the fiscal circumstance of the University.

Wrighton covered topics such as construction and budget breakdowns and offered cost-saving initiatives that will be implemented to help cushion the University from the economic crisis.

Wrighton announced the place and time of the address at the end of his e-mail to the University community two weeks ago acknowledging the University’s ongoing difficulties in the midst of the national economic crisis.

In addition, he outlined the financial challenges that the University now faces, including the decline in the endowment value, a lower increase in tuition this year, greater student financial aid needs, a poor fundraising environment, risky clinical revenue and the brevity of the stimulus package.

Wrighton chose to focus mainly on the loss of endowment revenue, which has been a highly debated topic in current weeks. At present, the University’s endowment has declined by more than 25 percent, producing a fiscal situation that the Chancellor acknowledged is “very fragile.” The total endowment loss by the 2010 fiscal year will be approximately $20 million.

Wrighton remarked that the University’s current financial state is also unprecedented.

“When I think back to my entire academic career, which began in 1972, this is the first time that there has been such a decline,” he said.

The administration, however, has plans to implement cost-reducing initiatives to alleviate the institution’s financial pressures. These measures will include energy conservation, improvements in efficiency level and a reduction in printed materials and labeling.

Executive Vice Chancellor for Administration Henry Webber will head a new organization called the “Tiger Team,” which will assist with improving the University’s efficiency and reducing its operating expenses.

The administration also proposed the expansion of summer school programs to help bring in greater revenue and the expansion of the University’s fundraising staff.

Master’s programs also will be reevaluated and expanded. The Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts will soon be introducing a new master’s degree in landscape architecture, which will be the first of its kind in the region.

After his address, Wrighton responded to questions from the audience and those submitted online.

One major concern put forward by the audience was the possibility of buying out employees close to retirement. Vice Chancellor for Finance Barbara Feiner explained that compensation benefits comprise 62 percent of total operating expenses throughout the University.

Although Feiner acknowledged that the idea would be up for consideration, she said, “Many of the decisions we’re making now are directed at reducing the risk of loss of employment.”

Wrighton stressed that the administration is open to suggestions from the community, which can be submitted at the Web site http://suggestion.wustl.edu.

“We pledge to consider every suggestion seriously and try to take advantage of the creativity and dedication of those in our community,” he said.

Of the 100 or so present at the address, the majority were faculty members. Only a few were students.

“What I don’t really understand is the timing [of the address] at 8:30 a.m. in the morning,” said junior Lauren Weiss, who attended the address. “I thought it was a little bit disingenuous on his part. It’s silly to say that you value your students’ input when you put it at a time when you know most students would not come.”

Although Weiss believes that Wrighton gave the audience a good sense of the University’s financial state, she thinks he deflected some questions posed by the audience in his responses.

Weiss asked a specific question about the chancellor’s goal to enhance diversity on campus in the economic downturn—a point discussed in his e-mail earlier this month.

“I asked him, ‘What do you mean by diversity? How exactly do you plan to implement the policies on campus?’ He answered the first part well, but he just didn’t really answer the second part,” Weiss said. “I am thrilled that the chancellor thinks diversity is important. I just think there should be a greater focus on honesty.”

This story has been updated to reflect the following correction:
An earlier version of this story misquoted junior Lauren Weiss as stating that the Chancellor’s decision to schedule the forum early in the morning was an intentional choice to exclude students. In fact, Weiss stated that the choice was unintentional; the rest of the quote was accurate.

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Tags: budget, chancellor wrighton, construction, cost-savings, economic crisis, facilities, henry webber, mark wrighton, state of the university address

This entry was posted on Friday, April 24th, 2009 at 9:33 pm and is filed under Administration, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through this feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.