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Smaller student body costs college

Enrollment drop at FLC hurts finances

Dollars in higher education are getting tighter all the time, and Fort Lewis College is analyzing every fund and expenditure in its $48 million-plus budget.

On Thursday, Michele Peterson, associate vice president for finance and administration, showed the school’s board of trustees how the 2014-15 enrollment slump of 5.9 percent affected the school’s various funds.

“All funds that receive student fees were impacted to varying degrees,” she said. “The healthy funds did OK.”

Among the funds that balanced their budget by pulling from reserves and cutting expenses were Associated Student Government, the Health/Counseling Fund and Recreational Service Fund. The Continuing Education Program was discontinued as of July 1.

The Auxiliary Facilities Fund, which supports residence hall expenses, saw a decline in revenues, but not as big a decline as expected. It has drawn down its reserves to minimum levels – about 10 percent of annual expenses – after completing the remodel of the Bader-Snyder Residence Hall during the summer. Phase 3 of the remodel will not take place for a couple of years until the fund balance is built back.

The Athletic Fund was perhaps the most concerning to the trustees.

“In 17 years, this has never been a healthy fund,” Peterson said. “They’ve never been in a position to accumulate funds, so they operate hand-to-mouth, bringing in as much as they can. Everyone’s had to cover their budget.”

There have been some questions about why the finance officer is spending so much time on the Athletic Department’s finances, she said.

“People think they must be irresponsible, but they’re not out spending willy-nilly,” Peterson said. “I sit down with each coach every year, and they are some of the best department managers on campus.”

The football team had a shortfall of about $235,000, which Peterson said was a combination of spending $42,000 over budget and a shortfall in pledged donations of $193,000. The shortfalls were covered by the president’s budget and college reserves.

“This year it kind of blew up,” she said. “They’re highly dependent on making their external supporter budget, and this year their one big major donor didn’t come through. They kept calling all year, and the donor finally stopped taking their calls.”

Trustee John Wells said that the pledge was not a contract, and things happen to people in their financial lives that make it hard to meet some commitments.

The team has set a goal of raising $100,000 this year, Peterson said, but she’s uncertain if they’ll raise it.

The $42,000 spending over budget was the more important number for trustees. The team is below budget on scholarship dollars allocated, Peterson said, and will be cutting an assistant coach after the season ends.

“The amount of funds they have been using have turned them around to be successful,” President Dene Thomas said, referring to the football team’s 3-0 record going into Saturday’s homecoming game. “I don’t know what the strategy is to make the budget successful.”

Thomas also said the football team was asked to expand its program this year, growing from 80 to 120 team members, which led to increased travel, food and uniform expenses. In addition to adding to the expenses, those 120 student-athletes contributed to the school’s income.

Peterson is also planning to refinance the bonds for the Student Union remodel and enlargement. They were issued in 2007, pre-recession, and interest rates are lower now.

In other business, on Friday, the trustees approved a revision to FLC’s Discriminatory Harassment Policy, which was first approved in 2009 and revised in 2013. In March this year, they had approved a third version, but decided to remove one sentence describing specific kinds of conduct that might create a hostile environment for students and employees.

The sentence removed said: “Such conduct includes, but is not limited to, slurs, epithets, pranks, teasing, taunting, demeaning depictions or treatment and threatened or actual abuse or harm.”

Vice President for Student Affairs Glenna Witt Sexton said there’s a fine line in such policies.

“It’s a balancing act between freedom of speech and harassment,” she said. “We still have a Student Conduct Code, which addresses hate speech. Many schools that had hate speech codes have been removed, and others have been struck down in court. We don’t want to reach that point.”

abutler@durangoherald.com

Sep 20, 2015
First-time enrollment up at FLC
Mar 19, 2015
FLC applications up 50 percent
Jan 26, 2015
FLC works to increase enrollment
Sep 19, 2014
FLC sees enrollment dip slightly


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