Archive for February, 2009

Students tackle contingency options

JOHN HOPKINS February 20th, 2009

Following up on similar efforts with Campus Council and the Student Government Association, students were invited to participate in two work group sessions on budget contingency planning with members of the president’s cabinet this week. Each two-hour session began with a detailed presentation on the College’s $69 million operating budget, current forecasts for next year, and a range of options being considered to either reduce costs or increase revenue in order to maintain a balanced budget.

Both groups succeeded in identifying interventions totalling $1.8 million, the target based on current modelling, and both found common ground on a number of specific initiatives, including closing Kittredge dining hall next fall.

Tuition Letter From President Cornwell 2/10/09

Mary Schantz February 10th, 2009

Dear Students, Parents, and Guardians:

 

Sustaining the excellence and integrity of a Wooster education amidst the most challenging economic circumstances in recent history is the first priority of every member of the College’s administration, our Board of Trustees, our faculty and staff.

 

After careful analysis, the board has approved an increase of 3.5% in the comprehensive fee for the 2009-10 academic year, to $43,900. With the exception of 1999, this is the lowest increase in 32 years. 

 

Even with this increase, the comprehensive fee covers only two thirds of the actual cost of a Wooster education. But despite the decline in the value of our endowment and the impact of the global economic downturn on donors, our loyal alumni and friends continue to support the mission of the College.  Their gifts, together with endowment income will provide a “silent scholarship” of $9,065 for every Wooster student this year, once again bridging the gap between tuition revenue and the full cost of providing a Wooster education.

 

We remain committed to maintaining - and, in the case of the Ruth W. and Morris A. Williams Jr. Emergency Student Aid Fund, announced this past November, increasing - the resources available to help good students remain and succeed at Wooster.  (Please see the attachment for more details.) We also continue to work diligently across campus to contain costs and operate the College more efficiently, while protecting the richness of our core educational mission.

 

Liberal education at its best is a deeply collaborative venture, and I remain grateful to each of you for your role in our shared endeavor. I wish you continued success this year and in the academic year to come. Thank you for your continuing commitment to The College of Wooster.

 

Sincerely,

 

Grant H. Cornwell

President

Contingency Planning Update 2/2/09

Mary Schantz February 2nd, 2009

Dear Colleagues,

 

I write to update you on the status of the College’s contingency plans for dealing with the most severe, widespread economic downturn since at least the 1940s.

 

Colleges across America are grappling with this challenge, from Stanford University, which has announced plans to cut its operating budget by $120 million - 15 percent -over the next two years, to Middlebury College, which aims to trim 100 staff positions in the same period. Though it is impossible to predict the future direction of the global economy, I am grateful to say that at this point it does not appear as though The College of Wooster will need to undertake the more draconian steps that have so deeply shaken many of our peer institutions. While we currently forecast some reduction in revenues next year, our position is sufficiently solid and stable that we believe we can take comparatively modest measures to steward the College through this turbulent period.

 

From the moment we began developing our contingency plans last fall, our first priorities have been to protect the integrity of our core academic mission and to help students whose families are facing financial hardship remain at the College. To that end, in November we announced the Ruth W. and A. Morris Williams Jr. Emergency Student Aid Fund, which provides loans - half of which convert to an outright grant upon graduation - for students whose families have exhausted all other sources of aid. We also encouraged families to sign up for our monthly payment plan mid-year for the first time.

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