How enrollment drops are affecting the budget
In regards to the ‘In Our Hands’ campaign which was previously mentioned in this article, there were some inaccuracies. The campaign is a multi-year fundraiser which has been working with benefactors for more than two years. To this day, $308.4 million has been raised out of the $400 million goal. If the $400 million is raised, the goal is that $165 million would go to scholarships, $55 million would go to faculty, $90 million would go to facilities and $90 million would go to programs. As of right now, these are goals and not actual numbers as the campaign will run until December of 2022.
With the lower enrollment rates, North Dakota State is facing a deficit of $5.5 million which will impact the funding, especially towards the humanities department.
On Sept. 30, an email was sent out to all the department chairs from David Bertolini, the Dean of Arts Humanities and the Social Sciences.
The email entailed a budget reduction exercise that asked each department within the arts, humanities and social sciences to create a draft that would cut its budget by ten percent.
Each department was asked to complete this budget reduction exercise by Oct. 31 as the email regarded the exercise as a team effort.
With the budget reduction exercise, department chairs that include Dr. Rebecca Weaver-Hightower, the chair of English, are concerned with the projected budget cut the humanities department will face.
With this recent budget setback came the “In Our Hands” campaign, which was held Oct. 10. During the campaign, President Dean Bresciani asked for all the support the university can receive to raise money for scholarships, faculty, new facilities and programs.
The goal for the fundraiser was set at $400 million with $300 million being raised that day alone.
Within the $400 million goal, $165 million will go to scholarships, $55 million will go to faculty, $90 million will go to facilities and $90 million will go to programs.
Though ‘In Our Hands’ met the goal of $400 million, there are still concerns about the tight budget the humanities department is facing.
During his State of University Address on Oct. 11, President Dean Bresciani discussed the budget briefly while comparing the conditions NDSU was in a decade ago.
According to Bresciani, ten years ago the university was in a financial crisis that put the accreditation at risk saying, “We suffered and we suffered mightily.”
Though Bresciani talked about how the financial state of NDSU is slightly better than a decade ago, with the reduced enrollment, the budget will continue to be impacted as NDSU focuses on raising the graduation numbers.
Bresciani also pointed out that with the increased graduation rates means that the enrollment rates will continue to remain low as there aren’t enough incoming freshmen replacing the leaving graduates.
Bresciani remained hopeful as he talked about the strategic planning and business practices that are taking place in order to avoid the financial crisis NDSU went through in 2009.
The budget has been tight for a while. In February, the Inforum reported on the number of faculty and staff buyout applications submitted.
There were nearly 70 applications received compared to the 55 buyouts in 2015 which saved the university $4.3 million.
The Inforum reported that NDSU offered early retirement incentives in the fall of 2018 to cut costs as the higher education system dealt with tighter budgets.
According to the Grand Forks Herald, tighter budgets are an issue many four-year universities are facing. In the article “Jacobs: Brighter Future on Campus?”, the enrollment rate drops were discussed.
Though the University of North Dakota had a drop of 330 students compared to the 623 NDSU had, both universities are faced with the damaging effects of fewer students.
The Grand Forks Herald reported that lower enrollment drops are often disturbing as they lower rates mean, “Fewer potential customers on the streets of Fargo and Grand Forks.”
Some of the reasons for lower enrollment in both universities are linked to demographics and a competitive education market.
As UND and NDSU are seeing enrollment declines, Mayville State University and Valley City State University have seen enrollment increases. This year VCSU reported that on count-day, the enrollment set a record.
Along with these two universities, North Dakota State College of Science saw an enrollment increase of 20 students with a September press release showing that there are 869 first-year and transfer students. This is an increase of 8.4 percent over 2018.
With this year’s budget cuts, there will be extensive planning put in place. The strategic planning process creates a map of what the next five years might look like as they strive to improve the budget. The strategic planning committee is currently planing for 2020 to 2025.
A look into the past strategic plan from 2015 through 2020 showed that NDSU was facing some of the similar challenges today.
In the 2015-2020 strategic plan, the committee stated: “North Dakota State University (NDSU) is facing significant budget cuts.”
“It is our understanding that most of the current projected budget cut could be managed through a hiring freeze and the voluntary separate incentive program.”
As for this year’s strategic planning process, Bresciani encouraged everyone to share their thoughts and suggestions on how the budget can be improved by filling out a feedback forum to the provost.