Economic update to Community

Dear Members of the Skidmore Community,

I write to update you on several important matters: the Board of Trustees meetings that took place February 19–20, an important vote on the University Without Walls (UWW) program taken at the Faculty Meeting last Friday, February 27, and the ongoing discussions related to the College’s budget planning process.

Board of Trustees update

In an important piece of business, the Board affirmed our budget planning processes by approving the proposed major budget parameters for next year’s (Fiscal Year 2010) budget. Those parameters, as reviewed previously in community meetings and with the Institutional Policy and Planning Committee (IPPC), include a projected increase in the comprehensive fee of 3.9% and a general salary adjustment of 2%; the current FY ’10 projections also include reductions in services and supplies budgets of 10% (or, for budgets that directly support teaching, 5%). The Board also authorized the use of “over enrollment funds” in FY ’09 and FY ’10 to address projected shortfalls in those budget years.

The Board expressed confidence in our budget planning for FY ’09 and FY ’10. Like the administration, however, the Board recognizes that the out years (FY ’11 and beyond) will present much more difficult challenges. I will say more about that below.

In other official actions, the Board approved the elimination of the Economics-Mathematics interdepartmental major; approved tenure, promotions, and sabbatical leaves; and authorized the granting of degrees to UWW and MALS students. The Board also approved the early release of funds to renovate Kimball Hall, and it authorized our moving forward to engage an architect to do preliminary design work for the Scribner Village replacement.

UWW recommendation

Some of you already are aware that at the Faculty Meeting last Friday, the faculty voted to support a motion offered jointly by the Committee on Educational Policies and Planning (CEPP) and the IPPC to close the University Without Walls program. The vote (106 in favor, 20 opposed, 5 abstentions) was in the form of a recommendation to the administration. I will now take that recommendation under advisement and will forward it with my own recommendation to the Board of Trustees at the May meeting. I will report on my decision to the faculty and the broader community by early April.

A decision to recommend closure of an academic program is not one that any educational institution takes lightly or makes easily. The vote does not in any way diminish the accomplishments of UWW, its graduates, or its staff; to the contrary, UWW has had a distinguished history for over 35 years. I am grateful to the faculty leaders and others on various governance committees who gave their attention to the UWW matter, to the individuals who served long and diligently on various task forces and working groups to consider UWW’s future, and to the administrators who worked tirelessly to ensure thoughtful, deliberate consideration of this important institutional issue.

The motion introduced by CEPP and IPPC was offered with the understanding that “if the decision is made to close the UWW program, the College will be committed to celebrating the accomplishments of UWW and its graduates and to honoring the work of the many longtime and dedicated faculty and staff members who have devoted themselves to the program.” The College also is committed, if UWW is closed, to exploring other options that would allow Skidmore employees to complete credit-bearing courses toward degree completion.

Budget planning update

I recognize that this is an unsettling time for many of you personally, and it certainly is an unsettling time for the College. As you undoubtedly have seen, the national and global markets are off to a very difficult start in 2009. January and February saw further steep declines and, as of March 2, the S&P 500 is down 18% for the calendar year. Although Skidmore’s endowment continues to perform well by comparison to the market, its value nevertheless continues to decline. We will continue to monitor the performance of our endowment and track its implications for our financial situation.

As you know, the budget planning we have done for the current year (FY ‘09) and for FY ’10 has included a strategic hiring freeze but no layoffs of personnel. I remain confident that the planning we have accomplished to date is sound, and I am optimistic that we will be able to retain the assumptions described earlier in this message. We all must be aware, however, that external factors (most notably, ongoing steep declines in the market) could require us to revisit those assumptions.

Moreover, it is now very clear that our budget planning for FY ’11 and FY ’12 must include structural adjustments that will permit us to reduce the College’s expenses on an ongoing basis. We need to understand that many of the financial assumptions under which we have operated for the past five years can no longer guide us for the future. This means that, as we plan for the out years, all programs and operations must be “on the table” for consideration. The members of my Cabinet and I will continue to work with the IPPC and others as appropriate to engage in this very difficult planning work, and I remain committed to updating the community on a regular basis. Toward that end, we have scheduled open community meetings on Thursday, April 2, at 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. in Davis Auditorium. At this point, I do not expect any major announcements or significant additional information beyond what I have described above, but I will look forward to taking your questions and hearing your thoughts or concerns.

The challenging work that we have ahead of us does provide the opportunity to re-affirm our fundamental mission and to re-examine and articulate our highest priorities. This is critical work that will require every member of our community to be an active partner. I invite all of us to join together in that effort.

Sincerely,
Philip A. Glotzbach