President Glotzbach updates the Skidmore community
President Philip A. Glotzbach and other College officials updated the Skidmore community about employee health insurance discussions, budget goals, the College’s athletics facilities project, coronavirus COVID-19 and other important issues.
Glotzbach opened two community meetings on Tuesday, March 3, with two pieces of good news: Skidmore was recently awarded a $494,240 grant for scientific equipment from the Sherman Fairchild Foundation, and Skidmore is one of five colleges nationally to receive a 2020 Active Minds Healthy Campus Award.
The president then listed many of the outcomes of a recent Board of Trustees retreat, which included discussions surrounding student health and wellness, the planned athletics facilities project at Skidmore, and short-term and long-term budget issues. Glotzbach encouraged members of the campus community to provide input at upcoming forums on the budget, which are scheduled to take place in the weeks ahead. He added that a balanced budget would need to be submitted in May.
During the retreat, the Board also approved a $1.5 million investment in locker rooms and facilities at the city of Saratoga Springs hockey rink to benefit Skidmore student-athletes who play there, an item that Glotzbach said had been planned and in the capital budget for a long time. President-elect Marc Conner, who will assume office this July, and his wife Barbara Reyes-Conner also attended the retreat as the College prepares for an orderly transition, Glotzbach said.
Mary Lou Bates, vice president and dean of admissions and financial aid, spoke about current admissions numbers. For the first time in several years, overall application numbers have not increased but remain strong relative to many other institutions. Early Decision and international applications have increased since last year.
“Many of our peers are down much more than we are,” Bates said. “For the first time ever, we’re projecting half the class will be admitted Early Decision.”
Demand for financial aid is expected to grow in the coming years, but Bates noted that the percentage of students requesting aid this year has remained steady since last year at 79%.
Donna Ng, vice president for finance and administration, and Tim Harper, chair of the Management and Business Department, provided an update on the efforts of the Institutional Policy and Planning Committee’s health care working group to address employee health insurance in the face of rising costs.
“As we grapple with these issues, we have empathy. This is our health care as well,” said Harper. “We’re trying to be as reflective as possible when thinking about the various individuals who will be impacted by these decisions.”
Ng outlined the working group’s new proposal for employee cost sharing by salary band, which was developed based on feedback from the IPPC and community forums held last spring. The proposed scenario ensures that employees making less than $50,000 per year would not see a percentage increase in their premium cost share. That and other elements of plan design, such as deductible, coinsurance, pre-approval for “specialty” drugs, copays and out-of-pocket maximums, as well as spousal coordination, will continue to be topics for community input. The working group is coordinating with Cambridge Hill Partners consultants to develop a process for gathering input and community forums will begin shortly, Ng said. The presentation along with FAQs will be updated in the website.
Glotzbach provided a brief update on the athletics facilities project, addressing specific concerns recently raised by members of the Skidmore community. He said College officials were the early stages of a proposal to move the Greenberg Child Care Center into the Pine Cottage Annex on North Broadway. Renovations and creating new parking and outdoor play space would likely cost about $1 million, and there is ongoing work to determine the actual cost, he said. Additional research into sustainability was also being done, and work on a construction timeline is ongoing. He encouraged community members to attend two open forums on the athletics facilities set for Thursday, March 5, at 3:30 p.m. in Gannett Auditorium in Palamountain Hall and at 6 p.m. at The Spa in Case Center.
Joshua Woodfork, vice president for strategic planning and institutional diversity, Joseph Stankovich, director of institutional research, and Amy Tweedy, institutional effectiveness specialist, presented some of the results of the 2019 Higher Education Data-Sharing (HEDS) survey taken by students, faculty and staff between Feb. 4 and March 17 of last year and said more in-depth community presentations are still to come. The information gleaned from the survey will be used to educate the campus community and will inform the Committee on Intercultural and Global Understanding’s (CIGU) five-year strategic plan, Woodfork said.
Julia Routbort, associate dean of student affairs for health and wellness, updated the community on coronavirus COVID-19, saying that an emergency management team is meeting regularly to monitor the evolving situation very closely, and ongoing updates can be found on a dedicated Skidmore webpage about the coronavirus. And, just as with influenza, “using hand sanitizer, washing your hands, sneezing into your elbow and wiping down surfaces are all things we can and should be doing to mitigate our individual risk,” she said.
Lastly, Woodfork and Mariel Martin, associate dean of student affairs, campus life and engagement, provided an update on The Center, a new equity and inclusion space in Case Center, with the first phase expected to open in May. A video outlined plans for the space, which will serve as a social hub and community base for people from diverse cultures, identities, religions and other backgrounds.