Chancellor Mark Wrighton speaks on the issues and challenges currently facing Washington University and those the school will face in the short-term future. The University’s endowment is estimated to have fallen 25 percent since the end of fiscal 2008 and is expected to continue declining. (Matt Mitgang | Student Life)

In the midst of the worldwide economic crisis, Washington University is dealing with a difficult financial situation of its own.

The administration estimates the University’s endowment is down by 20 to 25 percent as of the end of May, according to Chancellor Mark Wrighton.

“That [estimate] might be a little better than we had in mid-April, when I communicated it to the community,” Wrighton said in reference to an e-mail he sent to students, faculty and staff to inform them about the University’s financial situation.

He followed up that e-mail with a “State of the University Address” on April 23, providing the community an opportunity to ask questions.

Wrighton said donations to the University have held relatively steady, even as the number of donors to the University has decreased.

“[It] might even be ahead [of] last year,” Wrighton said.

In fact, the total amount of money donated to the University in fiscal 2009 as of the end of May was 4 percent higher than the previous year, according to David Blasingame, executive vice chancellor for alumni and development programs.

Blasingame said the University is also outperforming peer institutions in donations.

“I think most places are experiencing downturns,” he said.

Blasingame attributed the University’s slight upturn to several large donations at the beginning of the year. The University, he said, also has benefited from an institution-wide strategic planning, which provides potential donors a glimpse into new ideas and plans underway at the University.

As one of the foremost responses to the economic crisis this past year, Wrighton said the University is re-prioritizing resources to increase financial aid. Bill Witbrodt, director of Student Financial Services, said the financial aid budget “has top priority.”

“We recognize that when the economy is rough, our families are having a tough time too. We need to do all that we can to make sure that our students can continue their education at Washington University,” Witbrodt said. “When things are tough, it’s even more important to have a stable financial aid budget.”

The student financial aid budget has increased by 20 percent in the past two years—a feat accomplished partially by cutting administrative expenses. Meanwhile, tuition has risen—though by less than 10 percent, Wrighton said.

This is the first time that University has had to freeze compensation expenses since Wrighton’s tenure as chancellor began in 1995, he said. The University has also filled advertised jobs slower and recruited fewer faculty this year than usual.

Wrighton predicts the next fiscal year, beginning July 1, 2010, will be even more challenging. In fact, the University—in efforts to brace itself for greater financial troubles ahead—has started preparing for next year much earlier than it has in the past.

Even with the chancellor’s recent disclosures about the University’s economic state, most students remain dissatisfied with the administration’s extent of communication and transparency in financial issues.

This past semester, several students came together to start a Facebook group called “WU Students for Endowment Transparency” (WUSET). Junior Jacob Stern, one of WUSET’s founders, said he and others formed the group after reaching a consensus that students have very limited access to the University’s financial information, such as the breakdown of the endowment.

“By adopting a method of controlled disclosure, the University would join the ranks of prestigious educational institutions, such as Brown, Harvard, Yale, Duke, Stanford, and Columbia that have empowered students by making investment records available but would not limit the power of trustees or administrators,” the group’s mission statement reads. “We feel this step would reflect an institutional commitment to student participation in the broader university community.”

WUSET is in the stages of preparing for more active efforts in the fall, including talks with the administration.

“We really hope that it can be a really cooperative relationship,” said Stern, who hopes that the partnership will be beneficial for both students and administrators alike. “We don’t see the administration as an enemy by any means.”

Although our University is and has been an image-conscious institution, we believe that any changes in the operating budget should prioritize internal well-being above public image. With this in mind, we believe that budget cuts can be made in programs that seek to attract prospective students—for example, programs that fly international prospectives to St. Louis to visit Wash. U., and—as the chancellor has suggested—in mailings to prospective students.

In line with prioritizing internal well-being above external image, we believe that “image” costs—such as landscaping—can be reduced, and we encourage the administration to make cuts in spending on food and drinks at University events.

We believe that reductions in the University’s internal costs should emphasize an environmentally friendly stance, and we commend the chancellor for keeping environmental incentives in mind when presenting his plan of reducing costs. The University should encourage professors to find alternative ways of formatting readings so that students can read them online without printing. Moreover, professors can be encouraged to accept papers by e-mail instead of in print, reducing both paper waste and printing expenses.

Finally, we feel that the current financial situation merits a consideration of the cost-effectiveness of student groups. We believe that the leaders of Student Union (SU), whose funding increases incrementally with tuition each year, should be encouraged to meet with financial experts within the University to help reduce their operating costs and see where their budget can be cut for futures years. There is no current incentive for the operating costs of student activities to be reduced, and we feel that it is imperative that the University encourage frugality as an end in itself.

Although it is tempting to dismiss the chancellor’s remarks as suggestions that will not impact the state of our well-being as university students, Wrighton implied explicitly in his address that, since 62 percent of Wash. U.’s operating costs come from faculty salaries, would not see their normal pay increases for the next few years. In line with an emphasis on internal well-being, we, as students, ought to take it upon ourselves to ensure that the quality of our education does not suffer from the reduction in the University’s endowment. Because the quality of our education depends directly on the quality of our professors, it is imperative that we, as students who have been encouraged to engage in a larger discussion about the University’s operating budget, attempt to avoid faculty discontent. We should, therefore, encourage cuts that do not affect faculty pay. As members of a community that values the quality of its professors, we should speak up and request that cuts in SU funding, in image costs and in wasteful internal spending come before any adjustment to professors’ salaries.