Two weeks ago, Thelmo President Tinga Adiang and I had the privilege of representing the St. Lawrence student body before the Board of Trustees. The two of us attended meetings covering facilities management and repair, the endowment, admissions, and the University’s budget and financial situation as well as wider discussions on the strategic issues facing St. Lawrence and other liberal arts institutions.
Major points from these meetings include the following:
Tuition for year 2018-19 will be rising by 3.5 percent or roughly $2,000 to a total of $68,980. This rise was driven by the need for the university to cover rising costs, particularly as over 50 percent of university revenue comes from tuition payments, while the endowment and gifts make up the remainder.
Applications for the incoming class of 2022 are up by 10 percent, which indicates continued success in recruiting, though the applicant pool continues to be made up primarily of students who require substantial financial aid and support from the University.
The University has received gifts or pledges totaling $115 million in its multi-year campaign. The University hopes to reach a total of $300 million, which will then be used to invest in repairing campus buildings and closing the deferred maintenance gap as well as supporting the growth of the endowment.
The endowment has reached record levels of over $300 million this year. Every year, cash is withdrawn from the endowment at a rate of 5 percent and this cash goes directly to supporting the University Budget. Increases in the overall endowment allow the university to pull more cash each year.
The University faces long-term budget challenges as expenses continue to rise at well above the close to 1 percent at which revenue increases. These budget challenges have been explained to faculty throughout the year, and the University is in the process of finding ways to reduce costs. The administration has already taken personnel cuts and implemented a successful early retirement program that has begun to reduce expenses, which remain primarily driven by employment of tenured faculty and other permanent staff positions.
In addition to these primarily financial matters, the Board of Trustees heard directly from the Thelmo Executive Board about issues facing Thelmo and the student body as a whole.
These include:
Students are concerned over rising tuition and the lack of transparency between the Board of Trustees and the Student Body. Members of the Thelmo Executive Board pressed the Board of Trustees to address the sustainability of constant tuition increases, discussed the issue of financial aid failing to keep up with increases, requesting more information sharing about where tuition money goes, why increases happen, and how the decisions are made. In response, the Board of Trustees has supported the idea of a meeting with concerned students during their gathering in October. In addition, Board of Trustees members encouraged Thelmo to bring the acting Chief Financial Officer of St. Lawrence into a Thelmo meeting in order to explain to students what the University’s financial situation is and to answer questions directly from students. Thelmo will be holding this meeting in the coming weeks.
Student concern over the condition of major campus buildings include Dean Residence Hall. Board of Trustees members acknowledged these issues and explained their plan to repair or replace Dean within the next three to five years, a move which is projected to cost close to $26 million.
Student concern over the lack of access to health facilities on the weekends. The Board of Trustees responded with support for Thelmo’s initiative to get the health center open on weekends, and senior staff members suggested that limited hours would be workable.
Student concern over St. Lawrence’s progress in becoming a more environmentally sustainable campus. The Board of Trustees recognized these concerns and enumerated ways in which they plan to reduce the waste of electricity and heat over the course of the coming years while putting a target number of $6 million dollars to be spent on campus sustainability.
Student concern over the actions of student organizations on campus in regard to inclusivity, as well as Thelmo’s concerns about the Student Activities Fund and the financial policies of student organizations. The Board of Trustees expressed support for Thelmo’s initiatives aimed at increasing the oversight of student organizations on both of these fronts.
This report is a summary of three days of meetings and as such is missing many details. I have focused on the information I believed to be most relevant to the student body as a whole, though I would be happy to talk with any interested students about any topic. I can be emailed at carich14@stlawu.edu, and I am also available before and after every Wednesday Thelmo meeting at 6:30pm and 9:00pm respectively.
Dean may need to go, but Rebert should go first. That place is a hellhole.