Posts tagged ‘finance’

First Round of Budget Cuts Announced

In an all-campus email late today, President of the College Ron Liebowitz announced some of the first round of cuts to affect Middlebury services.

What students need to know:

• “Beginning in Winter Term 2010, Atwater dining hall will no longer operate as a regular College dining hall, and instead will become a special events venue to host dinners and receptions associated with campus lectures, the language table program, student social events, and other activities.   When Atwater ceases to function as a regular dining hall, the renovated and expanded Proctor and a slightly expanded Ross will be the venues for the student meal plan.”
• “The College will close Rehearsals Café, effective immediately, in order to reduce operational costs at that location.”
• “The College will eliminate the MiddView program, including the overnight camping trips known as MOO.  In its place, the College will develop an orientation program that is cost-effective and makes good use of the resources available on and around the Middlebury campus.”
• “…for the coming year, the College will reduce the amount of financial aid set aside for incoming international students.  The reduction in aid for the first-year class will likely result in a decrease in the number of international students in the entering class.  Despite this expected decline, the overall number of international students in the student body will continue to exceed the College’s goal of 10%.  In addition, the projected amount of financial aid committed for international students next year ($8 million) will still be higher than the average amount of aid awarded over the past three years ($7.5 million/year).”
• “The hours of operation for the Grille/Juice Bar will be reduced to reflect demand.”

What faculty and staff members need to know:

• The staff attrition goals remain the same, as previously reported. “The College will pursue the goal of reducing staff by at least 10% of current levels through attrition by 2011.  This means we are aiming for a reduction of at least 100 staff positions.”
• “The Director of Business Services will work to reduce the discounts we provide to employees and other friends of the College for the use of [the Golf Course and the Snow Bowl].  These changes will be introduced during the summer of ’09 and the winter of ’09-’10.”
• “The faculty and staff lunch venue will move from its temporary location in the CFA to the Crest Room in McCullough.  Although this change will limit the ability of student organizations to use the Crest Room during the morning and lunch hours, students will have access to the space in the late afternoon and evenings.”
• Compensation: “Though we are committed to competitive salaries for our faculty and staff, and recognize their importance in hiring and retaining the best faculty and staff, we believe it would be unwise to raise salaries this coming year as if it were business as usual, especially when the cost of living has not increased significantly (0.1 percent) since December of 2007.  We will provide a 2% raise for employees who earn $50,000 or less, but hold flat the salaries for those who earn above $50,000.  In addition, all members of President’s Staff, which includes 16 colleagues, will take at least a 2.5% reduction in salary.  Vice presidents will take a 5% cut, and my salary will be reduced by 10%.  This will be the second year in a row that the vice presidents and I have not received a salary increase.”

Let’s face it: nobody will be excited about the elimination of MOO, or the redeployment, as it were, of Atwater Dining Hall, or the lack of salary increases in July, or any of the other recommendations which the BOC made to President Liebowitz and he in turn accepted. Nevertheless, it is important to look at the bigger picture: it is better to forego a pre-college camping trip, or a Dr. Feelbad at 1:30 a.m. than to have someone lose his or her job. An economic recession requires that we all make sacrifices.

MiddBlog wants to know: What are your thoughts on the budget cuts?

-Sarah F. / Ryan