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Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Money???

So, how much is the University behind in its budget?  The numbers vary significantly from about 10-11 million to somewhere around 40.  While we can guess what has happened perhaps a little transparency might be in order.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jacobs' chickens have come home to roost!

Anonymous said...

From the HLC draft of Criterion 5: Resources, Planning and Institutional Effectiveness, which has been posted on online for university community comment for the last month: “The University of Toledo (UT)’s overall fiscal picture is depicted in the Annual Report year ended 2015. UT has worked to maximize net tuition and fees since 2012, while also working to minimize the net financial burden to students. The fall enrollment in 2014 was 20,626 (17,237 Full-Time Equivalents (FTE)) as compared to fall 2013 at 20,782 (17,571 FTE).

Ohio Senate Bill 6 uses three core ratios to assess a university’s overall level of financial health. Results of the primary reserve, net income and viability ratios are communicated to the UT Board of Trustees (BOT). Senate Bill 6 converts each of the ratios to individual scores of 0 to 5 and the average of these three weighted scores is the Composite Score, a single measure of the university’s financial health. The highest score possible is 5.0, and universities must maintain a minimum score of 1.75. UT’s total composite score in 2014 was 3.8, which is a healthy increase from 2013 (3.5) and 2012 (3.3).

See www.utoledo.edu/hlc

So what is the truth?

Anonymous said...

Truth? great question.

Anonymous said...

From the editorial, “Our ideas for the University of Toledo’s New Year’s Resolutions," which appears in the Jan. 13 edition of the Independent Collegian: “The library is still unfinished, with half of the second floor completely unusable and blocked off. Carlson library is a hub of activity for students, and the usable part of second floor is generally packed with students who are looking for somewhere to meet. With an extremely limited amount of personal study rooms on the third and fourth floors, and the first floor used more as a computer lab than a library, it’s crucial to finish and expand the second floor. For now, the space is wasted, with yellow caution tape blocking off what could be a resource for students.”

Abysmal and unacceptable is the only way to describe the situation.

How are students expected to complete their studies when a large portion of the library is out of commission?

Is UT so broke that it can’t finish work on the building that is supposed to symbolize its commitment to academic excellence?

Who is responsible for this long, costly, inconvenient delay? Where is the motivation to get the job done? Where is the sense of urgency?

C’mon UT. Let’s get back to basics.

Anonymous said...

The only budget deficit number I have heard is $10 million which has occurred mid FY16 and result of a FY16 budget approved by the Board last June which has fallen short due to assumptions of 2% enrollment increase (which ended up as 2% decline)and projected 2% increase in tuition (which ended up being 0% as per State budget requirement passed last summer). Some really bad budget and financial planning done last year in preparing current FY16 budget! This $10 million requires mid FY correction but also permanent fix so as not to occur again in FY17 which starts July 1st 2016. I have not yet heard what the current shortfall estimates are in early planning for FY17.

Bloggie said...

Bloggie has heard widely divergent figures, too. Most credible to Bloggie, just based on the source, is 14 million. But the egoistic stupidities of the Jacobs administration are bound to linger for quite some time in the form of bizarre construction projects, foolish subsidy deals that no sensible fiduciary would have entered into, and overpaid administrators that fill seats in U Hall and elsewhere. UT is very top heavy. All these things will just have to be worked out. Bloggie finds more interesting the college reorganization ideas, some of which are fantastic in the sense of being fantasies of soon-to be ex deans. Do you think Bloggie should begin a separate post to discuss these proposals?

Anonymous said...


It's George Bush's fault.

Anonymous said...

As to COCA/CLLSS a separate post could be helpful, just kind in mind that at this point there are many rumors, options and yes fantasies - many promoted by individuals - about potential merger options. Much of this will be sorted out soon as the two colleges will have completed their proposals and the two come together to sort out differences. Not sure how well that will go, but suspect the path forward will be clear by end of February if not sooner. One way or another, by March the merger will be done, cooperatively with the colleges and faculty or forced by the administration. It will not linger longer and appears non merger is not going to be an acceptable option. President and Provost are willing to give faculty a voice and time to make a proposal, but rest assured that the day will come soon (March) when they will proceed if there is no agreement by the colleges and their respective faculty.