February 18, 2005: Volume 63, Number 7

Trustees approve balanced budget for 2005-06

The College's Board of Trustees has adopted a balanced budget of $111 million for the 2005-06 academic year, it was announced by Stephen Ciesinski '70, chairman of the board.

"Once again, I can report that the College's overall financial situation is strong and that we have a balanced budget," Ciesinski said in his report. "After much collaboration with the College's financial staff and the campus Planning and Priorities Committee, the board has adopted a balanced budget for 2005-2006."

The compensation pool, which represents almost half of the College's operating budget, will be increased by 4 percent, the largest increase in a few years. "The College places great emphasis on attracting and retaining the best faculty and staff," Ciesinski said. The budget also includes one-year supplemental additions to the salary pool -- $200,000 for faculty, $100,000 for staff.

The budget calls for a comprehensive student fee of $41,595, a 7.5 percent increase over the current year. Since the College remains committed to keeping Union accessible to all students and to supporting a limited merit-aid program, the Board has approved a financial aid budget of $26.1 million, nearly one-quarter of the operating budget.

The comprehensive fee (tuition, room, board and other fees) allows students to take extra courses at no additional cost provided they meet academic prerequisites. The College instituted the comprehensive fee last year in response to requests from students who wanted to further enrich their academic experience.

"The past several years have been difficult ones for all of us, and Union has been hit especially hard by the rising costs of providing an intensive, high-quality education," said President Roger Hull. "We are not alone in this regard, but we have worked hard to keep our fees at or below those of other selective, liberal arts colleges."

Although the College has implemented a number of cost-saving measures that last year totaled $1.2 million, some costs – financial aid, energy, medical benefits and the skyrocketing cost of books and publications – are beyond our control, Hull said.

Hull said the College has not reduced the size of the faculty, thereby preserving close student-faculty collaboration, but that it will continue to reduce staff size by carefully reexamining requests to replace or add positions. The College's no-layoff policy remains, Hull said.

"We will continue to do all that we can to contain costs," Hull said, "but we want at all times to preserve the excellence that makes a Union education one of the best in the nation."

To read the full chairman's report, visit:

http://www.union.edu/About/Board/Archive/2005_02/

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