A message from the chair and vice chair of the Institutional Policy and Planning Committee (IPPC)

Dear members of the Skidmore community,

Over the past year in various communications to the community, you have heard about the pressing need for Skidmore to be more strategic in managing and utilizing the College’s limited financial resources in support of the College’s mission and long-term financial sustainability. The College’s current financial forecast shows an operating budget shortfall for the next fiscal year, beginning June 1, 2020, with potentially significant budget deficits in the future.  

In anticipation of future financial challenges, it is essential that all members of the Skidmore community develop a shared understanding of the College’s future financial realities – and the larger environment in which the College is operating – and help contribute to the development of a long-term sustainable financial model. As the October 2018 “Strategic Action Agenda” noted, as a community, we need to develop a better understanding of the strategic factors that are complicating our financial picture and apply that knowledge to the way we do our work.

Feedback from the community regarding athletics facilities, healthcare, and next year’s budget has highlighted the need for more structured processes to enable members of our community to participate in constructive discussions that will help inform and shape institutional decisions.  In response to the community’s desire and in conjunction with the community meetings already scheduled in the coming weeks, we are in the midst of outlining a process to better inform and engage the community so that we will have a shared understanding of the situation we face and can collaboratively consider options for addressing our future financial challenges.

To support a comprehensive, inclusive and transparent process, the Institutional Policy and Planning Committee (IPPC) has endorsed engaging the services of Cambridge Hill Partners (CHP), a small consulting firm with a focus on higher education, secondary education, non-profit organizations and healthcare. Working in coordination with a steering group of IPPC, the consultants’ role will be to facilitate a series of community meetings designed to provide clear and straightforward information about Skidmore’s current and projected financial state. The consultants have not been asked to develop specific recommendations but rather to help educate the community about the college’s financial picture and to lay the groundwork for decisions that we will have to make as an institution going forward.

The CHP team is working with members of IPPC to develop the information and supporting materials for use during the sessions and to serve as a resource during subsequent community conversations. We hope that enlisting the assistance of CHP will help deepen the community's understanding of Skidmore’s current allocation of resources and provide opportunities for the entire community to fully participate in subsequent discussions.

CHP’s work will begin this semester, with preliminary sessions to start shortly. CHP will also work with IPPC to identify areas that require additional input from the community and suggest any additional information that would be of value to share with community members. The consultants will work with IPPC to develop and facilitate additional conversations and provide regular updates to the whole community.

The members of the IPPC steering group are:

• Grace Burton, associate professor of Spanish and IPPC vice chair  
• Joerg Bibow, professor and chair of Economics 
• Michelle Hubbs, director of community service programs 
• Abby Ciccarone '22, SGA VP for financial affairs 
• Michael Orr, Dean of the Faculty and VP for Academic Affairs 
• Martin Mbugua, VP for Communications and Marketing 

In the weeks ahead, you will receive more detailed information regarding the process schedule and timeline, including materials for review and the schedule for the community sessions. We urge you to participate in these meetings. Ensuring a continued bright future for Skidmore depends upon our collective understanding of the issues at hand, a willingness to engage in values-based decision-making, and a shared process involving hard choices and trade-offs.

Sincerely,

Grace Burton
Associate professor of Spanish and IPPC vice chair

Philip A. Glotzbach
Skidmore president and IPPC chair