What are the specific spending patterns of EHE over the past 5 years that have introduced increased expenditures in the college? Specifically, what are the specific investments of the college across cost-centers (beyond individual departments or the salary of faculty and staff), and what has been the return on those investments?
The greatest increase in expenditures has been in personnel, specifically an increase in salary and benefits. Personnel costs account for 85.4% of total GFA, more than $45M annually. This reflects a 4.5% increase since 2020. While there has been an overall decline in FTEs since 2020, there has been an increase in salaries due to the implementation of Career Road Map, Annual Merit Compensation Program, and most recently, the Mercer analysis of faculty salaries. These increases, coupled with the loss of revenue from declines in enrollment and credit hour generation, have resulted in a negative net margin for the college.
The college is making and/or encouraging decisions that may, ultimately, negatively impact enrollment. For example, some course sections are being cancelled rather than staffed, leading to fewer students. How is the college engaging in careful, cost-benefit analyses relative to these decisions?
Decisions related to course enrollment are guided by college policy, but made at the department level, not the college level. Lower enrollment courses that are required for student to progress in their academic programs are generally approved even when they do not meet minimum course enrollment requirements. Low enrollment courses are not cost effective, as they do not generate sufficient revenue to offset the cost of instruction.
As college revenue has declined, department budgets have been reduced accordingly. Allocations for GTAs and specials have changed; departments are doing their best to cope with reductions in revenue.
Funding allocations for programs have traditionally been informed by historical trends and have not always prioritized the ROI of those investments. Moving forward, departments will begin to divest in some program areas—specifically in cases where credit hour generation and potential ROI are low—and prioritize making strategic investments in programs with a higher ROI.
Many faculty and staff raised concerns about the impacts of the current fiscal controls on the individual career trajectories of faculty and staff and the national and international reputations of programs, each department, and the overall college.
What steps does the college intend to take to address the current fiscal crisis without inflicting further damage? For example, what protections will be given to untenured scholars to further their research and teaching?
College and department leaders are committed to the health and growth of academic programs. Current fiscal controls are in place for seven months (November 2023 – June 2024) and given this short timeframe are not likely to negatively impact the national reputation of academic programs. As we promote our academic programs, it is important to be mindful of how our communication with colleagues in our respective academic communities and engagement with prospective graduate students may adversely impact perceptions of our college and programs. We encourage everyone to support our college and represent the strengths of EHE programs.
Program health is based on multiple factors, including student success, enrollment, credit hour generation, and revenue. As the college addresses financial challenges, the overall strength of programs will be a factor in our decision-making. Equally as important, programs must adjust and innovate in response to shifts in the university landscape (e.g., changes to GE requirements, increased competition for students within the university, credit hours earned outside of the college), state and national enrollment trajectories, and market trends in order to remain viable.
What will be done to protect funds researchers have received for professional development and through internal grants?
While there is no threat to faculty funds, current fiscal controls have limited faculty in accessing and using their funds for travel and non-essential expenses. Despite that, there are no plans to use or reallocate faculty funds for any purpose other than what was intended. The budget transformation committee is currently evaluating guidelines for travel and other professional expenses for FY25.
What does the college intend to do to retain faculty?
The college recognizes the importance of supporting and retaining talent. Consistent with past and current practices, faculty retention decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis. We understand that our faculty have many career opportunities and are often recruited by other institutions. We value our faculty and will do everything we can to retain individuals and support their success at EHE.
How will the college support graduate students, including GRAs and GTAs, since they are essential contributors to the teaching and research enterprise, and most importantly, our current and future students?
Cutting graduate student funding only further depletes enrollment and growth.
In order to meet our budget reduction targets, there will be some cuts to student funding, specifically support for graduate students funded through college GFA.
In addition, we are reviewing the allocation of GTAs to determine where we can achieve savings by reducing the number of GTAs each semester. We are currently overspending in this area (as well as others) and need to bring these costs back into balance. Department chairs will be reviewing requests for GTAs and determining allocations based on need and projected ROI.
Many faculty are concerned about the lack of transparency AND voice in fiscal decisions. They feel the process has been very closed and out of touch. In addition, there has been no recognition of the role of shared governance as outlined in the College Bylaws.
What plan does the college have for improving fiscal transparency? In addition, what plans does the college have for introducing the principle of shared governance back into fiscal decision making?
Consistent with university policies, budgetary decisions reside with the dean. In EHE, the budget is managed in collaboration with the dean’s executive team. Each academic year, the dean and CFO attend department meetings to provide an overview of the EHE budget. Additionally, department chairs work in tandem with their department leaders to review their budgets and allocate resources at the department level.
What plans does the college have to share detailed information about college expenditures going forward? How will the college ensure that this information is accessible to faculty and staff?
College leaders employ a variety of methods to share information about the college’s budget with faculty and staff. Written updates, department and unit level meetings, informal conversations with the dean, and town hall meetings are a few of the approaches used over the past three years. Information is disseminated through the college’s communications channels, such as the weekly EHE Insider, email blast to all EHE employees, and in unit-specific communication to specific leaders.
How will the college address the concern that some programs need higher amounts per credit hour to fully optimize student learning, and frankly, sustain the program?
The college has a very diverse portfolio of academic programs. Consequently, a one-size-fits-all approach will not be effective in supporting program sustainability. The expectation moving forward is that all programs generate enough revenue through enrollment and credit hours to cover their costs. Currently, too many programs are not meeting this benchmark. The most financially distressed programs in our college generate less than 40% of the revenue needed to support those programs. Of our 32 programs, only 14 generate enough revenue to be fully sustainable.
As the college addresses financial challenges and brings the GFA back into balance, the overall strength of programs from both mission and financial perspectives will be a factor in allocating resources at the program level. Subsidies to programs that are not thriving will be scaled back to make targeted investments in areas that are growing and need additional resources.
College leaders will work with faculty in financially distressed programs to make decisions about how to understand the state and national landscape, grow enrollment, increase credit hour generation, restructure programs, and take other necessary steps to enhance program viability while preserving their reputation and their continued positive impact on students.