Saint Anselm College has set a goal to cut $5 million from its fiscal budget in an effort to make room for new initiatives as higher education becomes an evermore competitive industry.
Chief Communications & Marketing Officer Paul Pronovost said that this is a strategic move to allow flexibility in the budget for new initiatives, not an indication of a financial crisis. “The college is very healthy financially,” he said.
The Academic Financial Review working board is considering strategies to cut $2 million from the instructional budget. When the board completes its preliminary report, its findings will be shared with key groups including the Faculty Senate, SALT, and the Board of Trustees.
Dr. Joseph Favazza, president of Saint Anselm College, is leading the charge in conversations with those groups to make sure that they are headed in the right direction. “I feel at this point we’ve made some good progress on the $3 million but obviously we do have ways to go,” he said.
No decisions have been made about what exactly will be cut. While some speculation from the community suggested that athletics would not be included in the budget cuts, Pronovost said that this is not true.
He explained that academics was the first area to be evaluated because it is the largest part of the budget, but the financial review board is looking at athletics and administration.
The college is also factoring increased revenue into its evaluation of the budget. “For example, athletics may have some ideas of how they can build revenue, and that could offset whatever their numbers are,” he said.
With academics, it is difficult to generate revenue, however the instructional budget reduction could be offset by a number of eligible faculty that may opt for a voluntary retirement package (for more on this, see page X).
With the ever-increasing competition colleges face, financial strain has been felt at many institutions. Earlier this year, the University of New Hampshire laid off 175 faculty members. “That’s not among the discussions right now at all, and it certainly wouldn’t be a preference,” Pronovost said.
This latest budget re-evaluation comes at a time of expansion for the school, including new buildings, a track and new educational programs.
“You have to be good at more than one thing at a time. We’re creating a School of Nursing and Health Sciences and we’re building a big building. You have to be able to do that and also keep your financial house in order,” Pronovost said.
He also noted that master’s programs may evolve to include online classes and part-time programs that are more accessible to working graduate students. “You need to develop these programs but you need the space, the bandwidth and the money to do it,” he said.
“We’re doing this when we can be smart about it, rather than when we have to do it,” Favazza added.
The next step in the budget reduction process will be a Board of Trustees meeting at the beginning of March. “Some decisions will be made, but what they are I don’t think anyone could really say,” Pronovost said.
“Whatever decisions we make that will impact the Fiscal Year 2025 budget, those need to be made relatively quickly. And then some will be longer because they will impact the following year,” Favazza said.
