November 16, 2008

FY 2010 Budget Planning Meeting

The Budget and Finance Committee of the Washburn University Board of Regents met on November 14, 2008 to address budget reduction planning for FY 2009 and FY 2010.

FY 2009 Budget Shortfall Solution

Although the state funding may be cut up to 7% for this year and next, the primary cause of the budget concerns is the significant decline in enrollment, causing a $1.6 million loss in FY 09 tuition revenue. For FY 09, President Farley has proposed addressing the budget shortfall with adjustments of the thermostats in campus buildings, a hiring freeze for non-essential positions, and limiting travel. However, if enrollment remains down, more drastic measures are being considered for FY 10.

Faculty Targeted for Solution

President Jerry Farley has suggested that Washburn University may consider an early retirement option to address the probable FY 10 budget shortfall. This option would most likely be offered to individuals with 10 years of service who have reached age 62 on or before June 30, 2009. Qualified faculty and staff members would be paid 50% of their annual salary and offered paid health insurance for up to three years in exchange for their early retirement. If individuals that opt for the early retirement are not replaced, this could save the university somewhere between $2.0 and $2.5 million.

WU in This Together

Rather than nudging qualified, tenured professors out the door early, the administration may want to seriously consider addressing the budget shortfall with a salary freeze for FY 10. While Shawnee County employees have received pay raises of 0-2% over each of the past six years, Washburn University employees have received relatively generous pay raises each year, with a 4% salary program in place for the current fiscal year. This salary program, with benefits, increased the FY 09 operating budget between $2.0 and $2.5 million.

Know Your Assets

The current WU administration and members of the WU Board of Regents should not be too quick to address the budget shortfalls by targeting one segment of the budget, faculty salaries. Replacing full time, tenured professors with adjunct faculty jeopardizes the long term academic health of the institution. Adjunct and temporary personnel do not develop academic policies, serve on committees and are not vested in the development of the long-term goals of the institution. Furthermore, students tend to bond with the tenured faculty that have advised and mentored them throughout their academic pursuit. For most of us, it a long-term, tenured professor, that we recall and associate with our alma mater even years after graduation.

Avoid Creating Long-Term Problems

If increased enrollment is the goal, then lowering the overall quantity and quality of full-time, tenured professors cannot be the means for attaining that goal. If Washburn University expects to be ready for the anticipated needs for more training that have been proposed by the new federal administration (as suggested by one of the Board members), service by the tenured faculty will be required. As these numbers shrink, the burden on those left behind grows. With many academic areas already sounding alarms regarding the growing reliance on adjunct staff, the administration would better serve this institution by addressing the “brain drain,” rather than encouraging it.