WMU facing $5 million deficit

By Fritz Klug
News Editor

Western Michigan University is facing a $5 million budget deficit as it enters the 2009-10 fiscal year on July 1, according to President John Dunn’s June 18 Message to the University Community.

Dunn attributed the deficit to a cut in state funding, an increase in salaries and benefits for WMU employees, growing university operating costs and the possibility of a slight decline in enrollment — “plus or minus 1 percent over last year’s figure,” Dunn wrote.

Since about two-thirds of WMU’s budget is driven by tuition dollars ($193 million in 2008-09), there is a possibility of a tuition increase for the 2009-10 academic year.

In the past week, two Michigan universities have announced raised tuition. The University of Michigan is set to increase undergraduate tuition by 5.6 percent for the 2009-10. Michigan State
University announced a 10.1 percent increase over the next two years in June: 5.2 percent in 2009-2010 and 4.9 percent in 2010-11.

Central Michigan University and Grand Valley State University have not yet announced their tuition for 2009-10.

“Even with a moderate projected tuition increase, a deficit of approximately $5 million will remain,” Dunn added.

Last year, WMU increased tuition from $7,296 to $8,228, or 12.7 percent. The budget was $314 million.

The year before that, tuition went up 9.2 percent, from $6,866 to $7,269.

Tuition estimates are based on 30 credit hours for a Michigan resident that is a freshman or sophomore, according to the 2008-09 WMU Fact Book.

The university is making cutbacks in all departments, around 2.3 percent of the “nonexempt budget” Dunn wrote.

Still, in the midst of the deficit and cutbacks, Dunn urged university employers to continue to hire students.

“Having a campus job may be the only way some of our students are able to continue their studies and realize their academic goals,” Dunn wrote. “Their goals are, ultimately, our goals.”

WMU’s Board of Trustees is set to discuss the issue at their July 2 meeting in the Bernhard Center and decide if an increase will go in effect for fall 2009. Students and community members who wish to address the Board will have to fill out a request form at the Board office, 3050 Seibert Administration Building, the day before the meeting. The time of the meeting has yet to be determined.

“Bottom line — this is a Board of Trustees decision, and it is a decision still to be made by our trustees,” WMU spokesperson Cheryl Roland said.

“This year’s problems are daunting,” Dunn wrote, “but I remain personally convinced that our resiliency is such that we will find a way to meet and overcome the challenges we face.”

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Posted by HeraldAdmin on Jun 21 2009. Filed under Campus, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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