Avoiding A Climate Of Fear

Avoiding a Climate of Fear? Another Longwood Eeyore Moment President Patricia Cormier said, in 2002, “We must remain true to our core mission of education.” That was the year Longwood College laid off 43 staff members (not faculty). A lot was at stake then, but more is at stake now. We now face a similar climate, where I fear that staff members will again be laid off or programs will be cut. We are facing a $2.8 million budget deficit next fiscal year alone, and that money needs to come from somewhere. If Cormier stands by the claim she made then, faculty will be protected, but some staff will not. However, Cormier will no longer be in charge as of July 1, 2010. This problem will be the burden of the new president, just as it will be the burden of the Bob McDonnell in Richmond. The University is in another pivotal year where they face either raising tuition to the point of causing some students concern to re-enroll or enroll at all, or they face cutting programs, staff or faculty to keep the costs from being placed on the students. Either way, it’s a lose-lose situation, and schools across the state are facing the same thing. Longwood has a legitimate reason to be concerned about enrollment. This year’s class essentially mirrored the size of last year’s class with maybe a small increase, but nothing quite like the numbers we’ve seen in past years. For the past few years, we’ve opened the year with record enrollment; however, this year’s numbers weren’t so record-setting. Maybe they were once again high, but not a record. The Longwood press release didn’t give a number like they have for the previous years. All the press release said is that the number “exceeds 1,000 students.” Either they were pressed to get information out before deadline, or Admissions was reluctant to release specific numbers because of the significant drop in enrollment. In fairness, the number last year was too high and housing and other departments were not ready to handle such a high increase (and no one expected such a high number). This year admissions knew they needed to scale back and did so out of necessity. Looking at the numbers of enrollment, the freshmen class is not what is bothersome. Since 2005, the number of transfers has diminished until this year. Although the number of transfers has always fluctuated, it peaked in 2005, yet has gone consistently down as freshmen enrollment and tuition has gone up. For a population that is getting larger every year, one might think that transfers would increase as more and more people hear about Longwood and become familiar with its programs. Either more transfer potentials are unimpressed with our school, or they cannot afford to come here or choose to transfer to a similar, less expensive school. One explanation as to why transfers increased this year is that private schools are also losing students who are seeking cheaper schools to attend. Year Freshmen Transfers 2002 900 190 2003 890 210 2004 980 164 2005 965 216 2006 985 205 2007 994 201

2008 1,065 165 2009 1000+ 180 *(These are preliminary numbers taken at the beginning of each year. Admissions has the exact numbers, which dropped or increased slightly throughout the year)* Determination for a better life only carries a person so far; eventually, economics takes over. The more students I talk to, the more concern I hear from them about the rising costs and the desire to not put themselves more into debt. Unless a miracle happens, tuition is increasing more than 8 percent next year (the pattern speaks for itself), although no one can say for sure how much tuition will go up until next year. Fiscal Year FY 05 FY 06 In-state costs $12,606 $13,647 Out-of-state $19,340 $21,317 costs I-S increase ---------------- 8.3% O-S increase ---------------- 10.2% *Assumes 8% tuition increase

FY 07 $14,334 $22,654

FY 08 $15,358 $23,968

FY 09 $16,521 $25,821

FY 10 $17,842 $27,886

5.0% 6.3%

7.1% 5.8%

7.6% 7.7%

8%* 8%*

Hopefully, one aspect of that miracle is going on right now in Richmond. The State Council for Higher Education (SCHEV) is lobbying the General Assembly for an additional $58.7 million for state schools (where that money will come from is anyone’s guess). There is no guarantee they will get it and if they don’t, than stimulus money is all we can rely on (the stimulus money was given out in a two year plan). Given these numbers, many staff and faculty are fearful of what is going to happen, but the administration is not being as transparent and helpful as we all would like. I know the administration is holding their breath and trying to be positive about what is going to happen next year. Certainly no one wants to see staff let go, but we do want to know what is going on and what situations Longwood is facing. The numbers speak for themselves. This year marked the first dip in enrollment, which was preventable had not so many people enrolled last year, but I think the number of transfers diminishing should also be taken into account. More people are going to community colleges and less expensive schools. No matter how appealing the administration and CRT Tanaka can make Longwood, if people don’t want to spend the money to come here, no amount of financial aid will persuade them, especially if it is loans. As total costs increase, loans become a primary means of funding, but everyone knows they will be paying them back twenty years down the road, and less students want to do that. I acknowledge that the administration is uncertain about what the budget situation will be, but they do know more than they are letting us know. The faculty, staff and students want them to be more transparent and open about the realities of what we are facing and not use excuse of uncertainty. The budget office is working on scenarios for every range of budget cuts and knows where we will need to scale back—what will some of those scenarios entail?