Budget Planning Frequently Asked Questions
JANUARY 2023
Q: I’m a new employee, is/will my job in jeopardy? Once layoffs are identified, can we have as much time as possible to know if we are being laid off?
Answer: We are going to be as transparent as possible while considering all budget reduction strategies. If any layoffs are necessary, we will inform those employees as soon as possible and provide as much time between the notice date and the employment end date as practicable.
Q: What kind of transparency/communications will staff and faculty receive with the budget cuts this time?
Answer: We have engaged in a transparent process with town halls, campus updates, presentations at the faculty Joint Labor Management Committee and the involvement of representative campus committees, such as the Academic Sustainability Committee and the University Budget Advisory Committee. Senior leaders are developing reduction plans for their areas with clear ramifications of each decision. Draft plans from senior leadership will be submitted to the President on February 17th, and we will use those drafts to discuss and consider possible cuts as we develop a final plan to present to the BOT.
Q: Between now and February 17th, will there be an opportunity for all staff to talk about ways to become more efficient?
Answer: You can send those questions and concerns directly to supervisors and/or members of senior leadership. We want to hear from you all as we make these decisions.
Q: Why, after our 13th year in a row of enrollment going down, are we writing the narrative that this is an expenditure problem when it is clear that our focus needs to be on increasing our revenues.
Answer: When the budget exceeds fund balance, there are two options: reduce expenses or increase revenue. In higher education, revenue comes from state appropriations and student tuition. We are lobbying for increased state allocation while also working to increase enrollment and retention of students. New programs will help in attracting new students and increasing revenue. At this point, we must also decrease spending to provide us time to increase revenues.
WOU is not alone in having to reduce budgets after seeing declines in enrollment. There have been significant changes in college attendance across the country, with many people choosing not to attend college after graduating high school. Students are taking fewer credit hours. Nationally and in Oregon, there has been a trend of more students enrolling in larger universities rather than regional universities. We know that the regional universities have tremendous value in helping students who might not do as well at a large university to succeed and graduate. State funding in Oregon for higher education is also far below the national average. And WOU has roughly half of the student population it did 12 years ago.
Q: Please show us how you have calculated that 80% of our expenses are payroll related?
Answer: 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 FY23 Adjusted E&G budget can be viewed at the following link, and shows that personnel comprises $60,032,073 of the total $73,612,841 expenses and transfer, which is 82% (https://wou.edu/board/files/2022/11/Board-Meeting-Docket-Mtg-No.-54-November-15-16-2022-103122.pdf — page 73).
Q: Please explain how WOU is investing in enrollment strategies, including marketing? I hear we have ~65% increase in students visiting campus in Fall 2022 vs Fall 2021, so they’re visiting. What are we doing to get these students through the process and enrolled?
Answer: An Enrollment Strategies Team was established in August 2021 to address enrollment concerns, including barriers to recruitment, enrollment, retention, and graduation. Within the Enrollment Team there are members who are experts in their respective areas related to enrollment. The Enrollment Strategies Team is composed of representatives from across campus including areas in Student Affairs, Academic Affairs, Finance and Administration, Marketing & Communication (MarCom), and the Associated Students of Western Oregon University (ASWOU). This team is highly collaborative and has made significant progress to remove silos, find creative solutions to enrollment issues, and address the need for strategy.
Some of the successes as a result of this team’s work together include:
- Better collaboration leading to warm hand offs from admission to enrollment
- Being mindful of the student journey from point of interest, to application, to orientation, to registration … all leading to higher yield rates
- Optimizing financial aid packages through work with Ruffalo Noel Levitz (RNL)
- Partnerships with the Education Advisory Board (EAB) to improve undergraduate, graduate and adult learner student applications and admissions.
- Investments in time and resources to support students and maximize their retention, persistence, and success.
- Better utilization of Slate, a robust Customer Relations Management (CRM) platform that streamlines application process and communication with prospective students
- Using Motimatic, which is a service that helps us reach prospective students and students that have stopped out and have not responded to other attempts by WOU to reach them. Motimatic uses social media to send them customized messages and help get them enrolled or re-enrolled. They charge a fee for each person who takes an action step (e.g., enrolls). This has been a very cost effective way to get students to take some step that leads to their success and, in many cases, graduation.
- Enhancement in our efforts to directly market Academic Programs by faculty.
Q: In lieu of layoffs, have/are furloughs being considered?
Answer: Furloughs and temporary salary reductions are generally short term resolutions and the budget reduction work we are doing for next fiscal and academic year are permanent cuts intended to help us address our structural budget deficit and bring the employee composition of the University into alignment with sustainability. Permanent furloughs are permanent salary and work reductions.
Q: With many students struggling with the online format (and therefore going to other universities), has there been any consideration to having more classes go back to in person?
Answer: Our current online offerings have doubled since before the pandemic, but it is still only about 1/4 of all of our course sections (and that includes some programs, such as graduate programs that are only offered online by design). We have surveyed students twice, once during Fall 21 andagain during Fall 22; the majority of students want to have a variety of course delivery options. Student Success and Advising are putting in some early alert systems so we can proactively reach out to students who might be at risk. We will continue to work on strategies so we can improve online learning for our students, including trainings conducted by Academic Innovation. Ultimately, we need a balance of in-person, hybrid and online options. We also need the strong student-faculty interaction that is a hallmark of the personalized education at WOU.
Q: What is the President’s budget cut strategy in regards to FTE reductions vs. layoffs?
Answer: Permanent FTE reductions for employees may be considered. However, we must also consider how any alteration of FTE will affect the functionality of the affected unit and the individuals within that unit.
Q: How many positions are going to be cut and which areas will be affected? What percentage of the 5 million dollars will be personnel cuts? What will these cuts mean for students?
Answer: The President’s executive leadership team is currently working through identifying the $5M of Education & General fund budget reductions based on their areas proportional share. WOU is making the budget reductions, in part, so we can continue to be one of the most affordable university options for students in Oregon. Significant tuition increases may make the cost of a bachelor degree unattainable for some of our current and prospective students.
At this time, we do not have a specific figure for the percentage of cuts that will be personnel.
Q: Should we be preparing for TT faculty cuts through Article 15?
Answer: As for Article 15, the WOU-WOUFT Collective Bargaining Agreement requires a preceding declaration of “financial exigency”, “retrenchment” or “program curtailment”. There has been no declaration of any of these conditions.
Q: Is there any thought of joining with other regional schools to reduce admin costs? Is it becoming a branch campus?
Answer: There has been no talk of WOU becoming a branch campus.
Q: Employees have made a lot of sacrifices in the past several years as workloads continue to expand. Inflation and rising costs of living in Oregon have caused many employees to struggle to make ends meet while our salaries have not kept up (while we are working more than ever). Is there an end in sight to this cycle?
Answer: If we are able to reduce $5M in permanent reductions for next fiscal and academic year, we will be in a much better position to alter the cycle. We are a strong institution and we are putting systems in place that preserve our strengths as we improve our systems. A reduction in operating budget coupled with growing enrollment and retention moves us to sustainability.
Q: Please help us understand how cutting NTTs [non-tenure track], who teach 16 credits and the majority of those classes have 25-30 students, is a wise decision.
Answer: We also eliminated 5 tenure track (TT) lines for this year after resignations and retirements. We have been reducing TT lines each year through attrition for at least the past 5 years. Even so, we have a 14:1 student to faculty ratio, and WOU has half the number of students it did a decade ago. And those students are taking fewer credit hours. A reduction in instructional costs is a necessary move considering the decline in enrollment.
Q: Why are we people-heavy in some units when many other institutions much larger than ours across the country have fewer people in some areas and are using software to be more efficient. It would seem like there are savings to be had by investing in technology and software.
Answer: We will endeavor to improve systems for efficiency and some of the changes may be through technology and software. Those transitions will take time to implement. All units will be examined as we map the potential budget cuts. But also bear in mind that other schools may appear to have fewer employees in some areas, but those areas are responsible for fewer functions than the equivalent areas at WOU. Again, we will be deliberate in considering the ramifications of budget cuts.
Q: How have we gone to HECC for their help and guidance?
Answer: Conversations with HECC and TRU presidents have been ongoing. We have talked with HECC, to each other, and to legislators. The conversations we have with senators are helpful in showcasing the value of what we do and how difficult it is to do it under a low budget. We are serving lower income students, and we are working on how we can be more efficient with our system to help serve those who are underrepresented. Continuing to have these conversations with HECC and our state legislators is the power to tell our story and have them hear us. But note that HECC recommends funding levels to the state, and they recommended higher funding for community colleges than for the public four-year universities.
Q: Why doesn’t WOU admit all students who apply for admission?
Answer: Our current admission rate averages 90% of the total students who apply for undergraduate admission. As we think about the students we admit, we want to be mindful of their preparation for college level work. We have a lot of great academic and student support services on campus, but sometimes that may not be enough for prospective students who are not fully prepared to attend college. The last thing we want to do is admit a student who is not prepared for college, have them not be successful academically, and then leave with debt and no academic progress or a degree to show for it.
Q: Is information across campus being sent about what each division may be cutting? Will you share that with us?
Answer: Sharing the preliminary scenarios for budget cuts has the potential to cause more confusion and stress than it would solve. Since all potential cuts will not be realized, it is better to be close to a final plan before announcing details across campus. Individual units have the ability to discuss with supervisors and provide feedback during the process..
Q: There are efforts for the enrollment numbers but what about the FTE problem and encouraging our students to take more credits each term, so they can graduate on time? Are there ideas and efforts to solve the FTE problem?
Answer: We are looking at this issue and what efforts can be made. We are working with advisors to help us with mapping and asking them to make sure students understand the benefits of taking more credit hours. We are also considering a tuition plateau model. We are also looking at different tuition structures that would incentivize students to take closer to 15 credits per term, as opposed to an average of about 13 credits.
Q: Are there any ideas and thoughts about revenue streams and fundraising? Do we have any current ideas?
Answer: A good functioning unit of Advancement is important; raising funds for scholarships offsets discounting tuition through other sources. We are also adding programs, such as the Occupational Therapy Doctorate (OTD), that will result in more revenue. Potential partnerships with the state are in discussions as well that could bring in revenue for services WOU could provide.
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