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Financial crisis hitting private universities
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“Even more striking are the comments from the presidents of private institutions, some of which have endowments in the range of several billion dollars.”
The impact of the U.S. economic crisis is not only affecting public colleges and universities in New York State, but also is spreading to public and private institutions across the country, President John B. Simpson said during the Oct. 22 meeting of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee.
Simpson’s observations came as part of a report on his recent participation in a meeting of presidents of Association of American Universities (AAU) institutions.
“This issue transcends the country,” Simpson said. “It is as present in public as it is in private institutions.
“College and universities across the U.S. are experiencing serious issues with their state budgets due to the financial crisis,” he said, noting that state funds account for a “substantial portion” of most public universities’ budgets, including salaries and major operating costs. In many cases, the result is an increase in tuition.
But the real eye-opener is that private universities also are feeling the pinch, he added.
“Even more striking are the comments from the presidents of private institutions, some of which have endowments in the range of several billion dollars,” said Simpson. “They’re concerned for different reasons—the values of the endowments are decreased. These are entities that contribute a substantial portion—perhaps as much as 25 percent of the fundamental operating budgets—and they’re reduced in value.”
Philip Glick, professor of surgery, pediatrics and obstetrics, asked Simpson for his opinion about what could be the immediate impact of declining stock values on students, whose parents are seeing sharp drops in their portfolios and retirement savings.
“I expect receivables will go up; enrollments might go down,” said Simpson. “Because our tuition is so reasonable…I suspect it won’t be as much [here] as at other institutions.”
But Simpson also said UB must do all it can to assist students in overcoming the financial challenges they’re facing, including ensuring access to support in the form of fellowships, financial aid, internships and career services.
In other business, Joseph A. Brennan, associate vice president for university communications, presented UB’s latest communications initiative, “Reaching Others,” which aims to increase awareness of UB’s impact on communities at the local, national and global level.
“Once you get beyond the boundaries of Western New York, UB isn’t as well known and as well appreciated as it should be,” said Brennan. “One of the major things that we are doing is trying to improve and increase how we tell the world the story of UB’s academic excellence.”
This message is being spread through “multiple vehicles,” he added, including a Web site and radio and television advertising. Senators viewed two 30-second and six 15-second commercials highlighting the impact of UB’s research in locations ranging from Boston to Costa Rica.
Click here to read more about the Reaching Others initiative and to view the commercials.
Also reporting during yesterday’s meeting was Marilyn Kramer, SUNY faculty senator and associate librarian, who spoke about her participation in the SUNY Senate Plenary Meeting held Oct. 16-18 at Potsdam State College.
Among the topics discussed at the meetings was the search for a new SUNY chancellor, Kramer said, noting that participants received assurances that the process remains ongoing and that candidates are being interviewed.
Also attending the SUNY Senate meeting was William H. Baumer, professor of philosophy, who said that SUNY officials also made a point to dismiss rumors that several candidates had withdrawn their names from consideration due to the fiscal crisis.
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