University braces for budget cuts
Campus Times
February 21, 1997
A 2 percent budget cut has been made across the board in all University
of La Verne departments, the school announced two weeks ago.
The reductions were decided upon by the senior management team, which
is composed of the deans, vice presidents, chief financial officer and president
of the University, who decided on the cut due to low student enrollment
in the graduate and off-campus programs.
The 2 percent cut equates to approximately $1 million in the ULV budget.
This is the first time La Verne has seen a budget cut in 12 years.
Each department must submit its proposed cuts by today. It is up to
the discretion of each department which specific areas of their budgets
are to be cut.
Steve Grey, chief financial officer for the University, has several
theories on why the enrollment drop has occurred.
He said the programs having the problems are mainly comprised of working
adults, and due to the economy many workers are no longer receiving reimbursement
for their tuition.
"This is not a red flag, but it's a yellow flag, and it means that
we should pay attention," said Grey. "It won't hurt not to spend
every budget dollar we have on paper."
The School of Continuing Education, masters of business administration
and College of Law programs, as well as the off-campus facilities in Ventura
and the Inland Empire, are suffering from low enrollment.
The School of Continuing Education has seen a 2 percent decrease in
enrollment from last year, and an 11 percent decrease since 1990.
Also a factor is the market competition for graduate programs. Grey
cited the University of Phoenix and Cal Poly Pomona as two schools in the
western region with very good programs. The two schools also have excellent
marketing.
"We have not been able to afford or commit the dollars to that
type of advertising yet," Grey said.
Consultants are being brought in to audit the marketing programs in
SCE and the School of Business and Economics. They are expected to begin
within the next 30 days, and work with the University for four to six months,
evaluating the current marketing programs and making suggestions on how
to improve them.
The budget cut will not cause changes in the amount of classes offered
or in the staff.
"[The budget cut] won't even be noticeable to most students,"
Dr. John Gingrich, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said.
Dr. Gingrich said the sense of community at ULV is reflected in the
budget cut decision, because even departments that are not having problems
are reducing their budgets by two percent.
"We all have to do what we can to make the school as strong as
possible," said Dr. Gingrich.
Items that will be affected in the budget cut include President Stephen
Morgan's out of state travel and conferences and professional meetings that
some faculty and staff members currently attend.
Also, the executive committee of the Board of Trustees decided on Tuesday
to delay the remodeling of the Education Building on "D" Street,
formerly the temporary home of the Wilson Library.
Upcoming renovations had been planned so the Education Department could
be moved into the building; those plans have now been postponed indefinitely.
The senior management team will review the school's financial status
each month in the hope that the budget will once again be balanced by June
30, the end of the University's fiscal year.
Next year's budget is calculated in July, and will take into account
the enrollment drop so that another budget cut will not be necessary.
"The budget cut this year means we have to readjust our expectations
for next year," Dr. Morgan said.