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YSU plan balances budget
By Denise Dick
Youngstown
Through a combination of unfilled vacancies, use of reserves, a slight enrollment increase and other measures, Youngstown State University can balance its budget through 2014.
YSU trustees reviewed the plan from the administration during a retreat Friday. No formal action was taken.
The plan is to address what YSU says is a $7 million deficit caused by a reduction in state funding and a 4.3 percent drop in fall enrollment compared to fall 2010.
Under the plan, the university won’t fill 70 vacant staff and 10 to 15 vacant faculty positions this year.
“The budget challenge that we face this fiscal year is significant, but we have a plan in place that will allow us to balance the budget and, at the same time, continue to maintain and enhance the university’s academic and student services,” Sudershan Garg, board chairman, said in a news release.
Not everything in the plan, though, is a sure thing.
The balanced budget assumes that enrollment stabilizes in the spring and increases by 1 percent in fiscal year 2013 and that there’s no change in funding from the state through fiscal year 2014.
Also included is a 3.5 percent tuition increase in fiscal year 2013 and fiscal year 2014.
Documentation submitted to the board by the finance department shows that if YSU had increased tuition up to the state cap each year, it would have had $57 million in additional revenue from fiscal years 2000 through 2012.
The plan also includes the use of about $1.36 million in university reserve funds, $2.4 million in savings from the early retirement savings program in FY 2013 and $200,000 in additional revenue in FY 2013 through distance education and online courses.
Neal McNally, budget director, said about $1 million in additional revenue included in the plan is through increasing the overhead charge, essentially an administrative fee, charged to auxiliary divisions at the university. Auxiliary units — the bookstore, housing services, intercollegiate athletics, parking, the Andrews Recreation and Wellness Center, the Steel Museum and Kilcawley Center — are units that generate their own revenue, but for which the university still administers services.
Trustees attending Friday’s retreat indicated their support for the plan.
“As much as I hate to project that student tuition will rise to the maximum for the next two years, I don’t see much of an alternative,” said Trustee Leonard D. Schiavone.
President Cynthia E. Anderson said the administration will continue to look for ways to trim expenses and raise revenue.
“This is a carefully crafted plan that will be monitored closely as we move forward,” she said in the news release. “It is imperative that we maintain a tight control on spending and enhance revenue through increased enrollment and student retention in order to transition through this difficult fiscal period.”
The university plans a marketing campaign as a recruitment tool and additional efforts to bolster retention.
“It’s been tough going, and it’s not over,” said Ikram Khawaja, provost and vice president for academic affairs.