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Trustees move to protect financial aid, coDege programs
The board of trustees answer questions from the community during an open forum on Feb. 20,2014, in Joseph M. Bryan Jr. Auditorium.
BY BANNING WATSON
Staff Writer
On Oct. 11, during Guilford College President Jane
Fernandes' inaugural board of trustees meeting, the board
took decisive steps to ensure that faculty compensation,
student financial aid and college programs will not fall
prey to budget cuts this year.
Every October, the board of trustees hosts an annual
meeting to finalize the budget for the current academic
year.
"The board of trustees meets at least three times a year
to attend to the business of the college, which means we
oversee operations like finance and budget and receive
reports from the subcommittees," said Edward Winslow
III, new board chairman. "We also set policies and observe
and assess the president's performance."
There are 11 standing committees that meet to discuss
the issues facing the College and send representatives to
address the full board with their concerns.
For instance, the Student Affairs Committee was
concerned about funding for Serendipity and other student
activities as well as continued financial aid in a difficult
economy.
"Leading the college right now is a tough job when
you're not getting support from the government for private
institutions," said sophomore Jos6 Oliva, Community
Senate president and Student Affairs Committee member.
"We need to find new funding. Money is what runs a lot
of the services and, because not everyone can pay $45,000
(in tuition), there need to be other means of bringing
investment into the school."
Considering that enrollment has been slipping since
2008, and tuition is the main source of revenue for the
college, the picture for financial aid looks challenging.
"Tuition and fees are the lifeline for the operating expense
of the college," said Ty Buckner, associate vice president
of marketing. "There is some fundraising, but most of the
9
CP' A
TE UPDATE
next week's plans
Come see Serendipity founder and chair of the
board of trustees’ Student Affairs Committee
Esther Hall and Interim Vice President and
Dean of Students Jen Agor speak about
Serendipity, what their concerns are and what
campus life is doing. Come to the West Gallery
to hear Hall, Agor, the wellness group, CAB and
others speak about how you can be involved.
Esther Hdf
Jen Agor
contact us
Have an idea? Concern? Great
recipe? It's important to
us.
r
college's operating revenue comes from tuition and fees.
There is some draw on our endowment ... about $2 or 3
million — against a $50 million budget. That's not a lot."
Another significant issue raised at the meeting was
faculty compensation, which has been stagnant in the past
few years.
"Clearly, the big issue right now is faculty salaries
because we have not had raises for three of the last four
years, and the board knows that," said Elwood Parker,
faculty representative on the board and professor of
mathematics. "I think ... we've lost some faculty because
we haven't paid them well."
The board was worried that they would need to sacrifice
either faculty, compensation or fin^cial aid. But Winslow,
speaking for the board, assured that that would not be the
case as the result of the decisions taken at the meeting. In
fact, as part of the budget, the board has approved more
expenditure going towards financial aid than anticipated
and has ensured that the faculty compensation issue would
be addressed.
"We're granting much more financial aid than we had
planned on, which is something Guilford has always been
committed to as it enables us to have a diverse student
body," said Winslow. "You're always striking a balance
(between) your biggest expense — compensating the faculty
and staff — and your biggest source of revenue — tuition.
When you have reduced tuition, you're going to have to
make sacrifices somewhere or find money elsewhere."
In fact, the board has voted against sacrificing programs,
financial aid and faculty compensation. Instead, they have
decided to borrow money and utilize money saved on
faculty healthcare — thanks to a relatively healthy staff
— to make up the shortfall from tuition and fees. Specifics
about faculty raises or how much the school would be
borrowing and from whom are not yet available, but a bold
direction has been set.
Fernandes addressed the College's financial situation in
two sessions of an open budget forum on Oct. 22.
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Compiled by Nicole Zelniker, senior writer