President’s Blog
Budget Update
September 17, 2007
Now that our new fiscal year has begun and we’re about to begin the new academic year, I’m pleased to say that the campus has done an excellent job of keeping within the constraints of the final budget plan that emerged from our retrenchment process. Although our fund balance (reserve) is still not at the 5–percent level the Oregon University System has designated as the low end of an acceptable range, we have emerged with slightly more in our reserve than we projected.
This is good news! I’m very grateful to everyone who helped keep our expenses in line over the past months.
At the September OUS Board meeting, we received definitive word on the second piece of our 2007–08 budget puzzle: our allocation of state funds by OUS to the individual campuses. The SOU allocation is satisfactory. It is in keeping with what we projected in our retrenchment plan and will enable us to maintain a steady course in 2007–2008—as long as the third piece of our funding puzzle is also in keeping with the retrenchment plan.
The third piece of the budget puzzle, of course, is our enrollment. I’m delighted that numbers of new students look good for fall. Raider Registration numbers have been strong, and parents and students visiting campus have been extremely enthusiastic about SOU. However, we still have small classes coming through from the past. We won’t confirm our official fall enrollment, of course, until October; if we’re flat in enrollment overall, we will still be within the parameters of our three–year plan.
SOU is emerging from one of the worst budget experiences in its history. Now we’re on the upswing. However, we’ll need to remain within the spending limits established by the three-year final plan. And we’ll need to continue our strong focus on enrollment and retention. Academic Year 2007–2008 is crucial to our overall success as a university: we all need to focus on enrollment for the long–term, thinking strategically about every aspect of the institution and how it can best attract and retain the students, faculty, and staff who will enable us to thrive.
Throughout this academic year, we will hold open meetings and offer other opportunities for the campus community to remain updated on our budget situation. We will also continue to seek good ideas that will help us meet our budgetary goals.
Many thanks, again, to everyone who helped get us through this difficult year—and kept us on track with regard to spending.
We have survived. Now we’re taking charge of our future. We will succeed!
Mary Cullinan
