By Victoria Gladstone and Mike Sherr
Managing Editor and Editor-in-Chief
Following Bernstein’s “Welcome Back Address” last August, the interim president has promised to be more transparent with the College’s plans for the budget for the fiscal year of 2025 (FY25). Bernstein sent an email on Wednesday to the campus community with the intention of being transparent.
After finding the College overestimated its revenue for its tuition, fees and housing, and underestimated the state’s imbursement for employee fringe benefits, the College lost 20 million, or seven percent of the overall budget.
In order to reduce operating costs by $11 million, a hiring freeze was put into place to capture salary savings and cuts were made across all divisions on campus. Additionally, the physical plant asset renewal budget was reduced by four million dollars and, in turn, four million will be taken from reserves.
With this, FY25 will begin with a $5 million deficit and will have an overall anticipated gap of nine million dollars with increased costs of services, supplies and salaries.
“We want to aggressively pursue support from our state,” Bernstein told the Board of Trustees on Oct. 17. “We want to make the case where we need that support.”
The College receives some of the lowest support from the state compared to other institutions. Rutgers-New Brunswick received over $8,000 per student in FY2023 while the College only received about $4,000.
The interim CFO Rich Schweigert and Deputy CFO Mark Mehler are in the process of developing budgeting protocols in order to avoid further unexpected losses.
“Obviously we want to get things right for our college now and for the work ahead this year, next year and in the years after that,” Bernstein told the Board. “But we also have a responsibility and…an ethical responsibility,to people we don't know. People who will come to our college long after we're all gone are counting on us to do our jobs right.”
According to his email, the interim president’s goal is to enhance our offerings and “determine what may no longer be a priority for institutional investment.”
“There will be no surprises,” Bernstein wrote. “As we work together to develop the FY25 budget and plan for future years, you should expect transparency from me, the Cabinet, and the college Treasurer’s Office.”
