Budget Town Hall Q&A, April 8, 2025

1. Should WOU sell its undeveloped land to gain additional revenue?

This would only be a one-time influx of money if we did sell the land and would not address structural budget deficits.

2. Have we asked the Governor for additional funding for WOU?

We do actively lobby at the Oregon legislature for increased public support for higher education in Oregon. Evan Source is the interim Executive Government Relations Director and actively interacts and lobbies at the legislature on WOU’s behalf. Oregon spends, on average, $3K less per student on higher education than surrounding states. Our financial situation is not unique to WOU; the other Technical Regional Universities in Oregon are also in similar financial situations.

3. Has WOU looked into renting out vacant campus spaces to generate additional revenue streams?

The administration will look into the feasibility of renting out vacant campus spaces to external entities.

4. Why is WOU experiencing declining enrollment?

Fewer individuals nationwide are graduating from high school to feed into colleges. There is currently a national discussion surrounding the value of higher education. Larger higher education institutions in Oregon are growing and making the field more competitive to attract students. WOU’s offerings are unique and especially attractive to first-generation students and we are leaning into marketing our strengths to attract students; however, it takes time to increase and stabilize enrollment.

5. How is the university recruiting students?

Aligning with our 2024 Strategic Enrollment Management Plan, our recruitment strategy has two long term outcomes: 1) attract and convert a larger pool of qualified prospective students to WOU through a data-driven, engaging, and streamlined recruitment and application process and 2) maximize existing resources, partnerships, and human talent to support an efficient, effective, and student-centered yield process. In this cycle, we have seen a significant increase in application volume, so our primary focus is on leveraging yield strategies that encourage admitted students to enroll.

6. Outside of cutting faculty, what other approaches is WOU taking to reduce its annual costs?

In the updated 5-year model, we have modeled faculty reductions, administrative reductions (using administrative broadly to include anything that is not faculty), athletic reductions, GA reductions (as that is an area that has historically underspent every year), and indirect budget reductions (again, an area that historically underspends, and the definition of what indirects are intended for is to offset the administrative costs,).

7. Is there any thought of joining with other regional schools to reduce admin costs? Is it becoming a branch campus?

We are working with the Higher Education Coordinating Commission to contract with an external consultant to evaluate opportunities for shared services. That work is expected to be completed by the end of the next fiscal year. Any viable opportunities identified will be considered for implementation. There has been no talk of WOU becoming a branch campus.

8. What academic programs are being eliminated?

No academic programs have been eliminated nor asked to close. We have asked our faculty to look for ways to make program requirements and offerings more efficient. However, in the circumstance where a university decides to close a program, WOU will create a plan that allows the students in that program to take the classes they need to graduate without changing majors. These plans are called “teach-out plans” and are required by our accreditors (NWCCU), by the Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission, and by the federal Department of Education.

9. Will students currently in programs slated for elimination be able to graduate?

There are no programs currently slated for elimination. Students will be able to graduate. If and when programs are eliminated, those programs would not be eliminated until all students in that program have completed the program.

10. How does student representation interface with the WOU President and administration?

The Associated Students of Western Oregon University (ASWOU) is the official body for student representation; the Board of Trustees has two student representatives, ASWOU has a spot in the Faculty Senate and the University Budget Advisory Committee, and the President’s Cabinet also has student representation. Additionally, the University President meets with the ASWOU President, the Faculty Senate President, and the Staff Senate President regularly. Students are encouraged to reach out to the ASWOU student government for information and to voice their concerns.

11. Can you estimate the return we could expect on investing in an overhaul of the wou.edu website?

WOU has hired a front-end web developer/designer who, at the end of February, is actively mapping the website, updating or removing dormant pages, ensuring the website user list is updated, and fixing broken links and outdated information. This project will transform the WOU website into a top-quality recruitment tool that effectively attracts students.

12. Administration has mentioned looking at the ROI for courses as a way of determining whether or not they should run. Does WOU also use ROI for non-academic activities and staff, such as metrics for upper-level administration?

The Budget Office is currently working with Academic Affairs on estimating ROI by academic program. The Budget Office is also working with Athletics on estimating ROI for each sports program. The Budget Office will continue to explore feasible ways to estimate ROI for other areas of the University. If there is an area believed to be budgeted in excess, it’s suggested to bring that idea to UBAC for discussion and collaboration with the Budget Office to estimate ROI for the area.

13. How has the university calculated that 80% of expenses are payroll-related?

The calculation of 80% of our expenses being personnel-related is based on Education & General (E&G) fund expenditures only (whereas the annual financial statements are based on expenditures for the entire university, which includes other funds related to auxiliary, grants, capital, etc). The FY25 Adjusted E&G budget can be viewed at the following link and shows that personnel comprises $60,459,097 of the total $76,648,601 expenses and transfer, which is 79%. See page 70 of the BOT meeting docket from November 2024.

14. Where can I view the slide deck from the April 8th Town Hall Meeting?

The slide deck can be downloaded here.