Indiana State University must reduce expenses by at least $12 million for the 2023-24 budget, ISU President Deborah Curtis announced Friday. Also, while ISU has been able to reduce expenses the past few years without layoffs seen at other institutions, “… at this time it is likely that this will no longer be possible,” she stated in an email that went to the campus community Friday morning.
The fiscal year 2024 budget begins next July 1.
ISU’s current 2022-23 general fund budget is $173.6 million; it included $4 million in budget reductions and use of budget reserve funds of $4.4 million to provide a balanced budget.
Enrollment has been declining in recent years, exacerbated by the pandemic. This fall, headcount enrollment stood at 8,658, compared to last year’s 9,459.
Overall enrollment was down nearly 8.5% this year; last year, it declined 12.6%.
“In the weeks ahead, all divisions led by vice presidents will undergo discussions and planning activities to rethink how we deliver on our mission to educate and graduate students,” Curtis wrote in the email. “Administrative, academic and staff reorganizations will be evaluated thoroughly.”
Chris Olsen, provost and vice president for academic affairs, will have conversations with academic units to elaborate further on what’s ahead, Curtis said.
“Envisioning who we will be requires realignment of our structure, programs, and resource allocation decisions to meet our future needs and live within our means,” she said.
While ISU has been budgeting for reduced revenue the past several years, and will do that again with the fiscal year 2024 budget, “There are no longer federal funds being provided to fill the gaps as in the past two years,” the ISU president said.
Curtis also outlined the current environment for higher education affecting not just ISU, but institutions across the state and nation: Indiana’s college-going rate as well as number of high school graduates is declining. Fewer low income and underrepresented students returned to or started college following the pandemic. Many in the broader public have once again begun to question the value of a college education.
“These facts merge into a set of challenges we now face,” Curtis said.
ISU headcount enrollment has been declining since fall 2017, when it was 13,045. This year’s headcount of 8,658 represents a 34% decline since 2017.
ISU says it is turning the corner with 1,535 new freshmen this year, an increase of 101 from last year — up 7%.
ISU Faculty Senate officers responded to the announcement in part, “We know that there are many members of our campus community feeling alarmed and we share the anxiety this announcement has created.”
The potential exists that layoffs might include instructors and tenured or tenure-track faculty, according to comments drafted by James Gustafson, faculty senate chair, Andrea Arrington-Sirois, vice chair, and Jodi Frost, secretary.
Faculty have been told by the provost that the majority of budget cuts within academic affairs will be covered through means other than layoffs, including not filling vacation positions and reorganizing administrative structure.
“We have also asked the provost to consider incentivized retirement packages,” according to the comments, sent to faculty Friday afternoon.
“Still, the grim reality of lay-offs remains. We will push for these to be done as transparently and humanely as possible, including paying attention to the academic job market cycle in making and communicating decisions,” the faculty officers wrote.
To confront ISU’s enrollment and financial challenges, Curtis stated, “We will continue to work our plan and strive to be the best Indiana State University we can be. That is what our students need, and that is what the state of Indiana needs from us. The actions found in our strategic plan continue to chart the course for our next steps.”
During fiscal years 2020 through 2022, ISU prioritized keeping as many people employed as possible.
“It was the right thing to do and we made sure that happened. At this juncture as we emerge from the global pandemic, it’s time to pivot to a sustainable budgeting model for the near and distant future for our work together here at ISU. We need to build a model that will sustain us and set us up for future successes both now and into the future,” Curtis said.
Achieving what is necessary requires a “reset of resources and priorities” based on the number of students and the need to deliver higher education to different types of students in different ways,” Curtis said.
In addition to serving traditional college-age students, ISU has begun to increase outreach to place-bound adult learners, and it also remains focused on filling the state’s workforce pipeline.
ISU also remains committed “to being the state’s most affordable four-year university that serves a statewide mission,” Curtis wrote.
As ISU plans for the future, it is important to keep in mind that budget adjustments are not a static target but a range that fluctuates with enrollment, state appropriations and other factors, she stated.
“This is where we are at Indiana State University. We are facing a challenge, and we are prepared to meet it head on,” she said.
Decisions will be guided by the need to create a more efficient, leaner, better-focused university for the 21st century, she said.
“We are pursuing curriculum reform to create majors that are more in line with the needs of employers and students, and more consistently and effectively delivered with the faculty we have,” Curtis said.
She concluded, “We have so much to be proud of and grateful for at ISU. I believe in this university, its world-class faculty, our exceptional staff, and particularly our inspirational students. The solution is in the doing. I look forward to doing this important work together.”
ISU faculty officers, in their comments, stated that “ISU is in a pivotal moment. Budget deficits from the past few years were resolved through external money, mostly federal, meant to offset losses sustained during the pandemic.
“With that source of funding gone now and enrollment down for the foreseeable future, we believe the administration is correct in their assertion that we must figure out the ‘right size’ of our institution.”
The faculty leaders urged their peers to work to create a shared vision of what ISU can be moving forward.
“We cannot allow our vision of this university to be determined solely by budget cuts,” the faculty officers wrote. “In times of crisis, there is an instinct to contract, to tuck in, but as faculty we must continue to think creatively about what our university values and how we can continue to best serve our students.”
Faculty must consider the wants and needs of post-2020 college students and also how they can “re-think the programs we offer our students in ways that allow timely completion and don’t create an unsustainable labor burden for ourselves,” they wrote.
The wisdom, ideas, and energy of the faculty “is one of ISU’s biggest strengths and it is the faculty who must lead the way forward,” the faculty officers stated.
The faculty senate officers concluded by stating, “Our work now is to ensure that the administration is transparent and humane in the coming weeks and months as they begin making painful decisions that will affect us all.”
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