President, cabinet update the Skidmore community
President Philip A. Glotzbach and members of his cabinet briefed the Skidmore community about recent accomplishments and several challenges ahead at recent Skidmore College community meetings.
The president introduced the College’s new chief human resources officer, Brett I. Last, who joined the College Feb. 25.
Last and Joshua C. Woodfork, executive director of the Office of the President and vice president for strategic planning and institutional diversity, noted that a search committee for Skidmore’s eighth president was being formed. Last and Woodfork encouraged faculty, staff and students to provide feedback throughout the search process, which soon will be underway and supported by the Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates search firm.
Glotzbach, who has led Skidmore since 2003, recently announced that he would retire following the 2019-2020 academic year.
Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs Michael Orr and Donna Ng, vice president for finance and administration and treasurer, discussed a new, streamlined construction plan for the Center for Integrated Sciences that was approved by Skidmore’s Board of Trustees.
The unanimous decision by the Board aims to save the College an estimated $13.3 million in construction costs, while setting a clear timeframe to complete the project in 2024.
Ng updated the community on budget and planning. The budget for the upcoming 2019-2020 is projected to be balanced. However, Ng noted that Skidmore, like many colleges and universities, will be facing financial challenges in the future. Like other institutions, Skidmore employee health care costs and wages are expected to increase more than net tuition revenue as the need for financial aid continues to grow. Ng said it was important to think creatively about ways that the College community could confront these challenges. The Board of Trustees will vote on the 2019-2020 budget in May.
The Institutional Policy and Planning Committee (IPPC) Subcommittee on Budget and Finance will study the challenges of health care costs. Because of the importance of healthcare to all employees, staff representatives will be added to this group.
Despite challenges, Ng and Glotzbach stressed that Skidmore remains financially strong and resilient and well prepared to tackle these challenges.
“There’s a lot of work to but we have a good framework and a great team to do it,” President Glotzbach said. “Creative Thought Matters here.”
