Whitman College - We Need a Clearer Picture

Dear friends and colleagues,

 

The Whitman College chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) is raising total funds of $5000 to commission an external review of the College’s finances following the 2020-21 Financial Sustainability Review (FSR). Why? WE NEED A CLEARER PICTURE.

 

At the outset of the FSR, College administration told our community we were facing a $3.5 million deficit for fiscal year 2021-22, and that cuts and spending reductions were necessary. (1) This was despite a budget surplus that resulted from a transition to online learning. The Presidential Search Prospectus also notes that Whitman is expecting budget surpluses in 2022-23 “and beyond.” Additionally, the just-released public financial report acknowledges the college received $3.9 million in pandemic relief funds. Yet cuts to vital student programs remain in place, staff positions remain unfilled and reductions to the academic program have been extended indefinitely. We believe these reductions have already negatively impacted the college and will have long-term, lasting impacts on student education. WE NEED A CLEARER PICTURE.

 

The FSR was in response to concerns about a drop in enrollment at the outset of the COVID-19 global pandemic and in preparation for the 2026 “demographic cliff.” While many of our peer institutions enacted temporary reductions that were less severe or made no reductions whatsoever, spending for Whitman College’s academic programs (sabbaticals, aid to scholarship) and student programs (ASWC, the student newspaper) have been severely reduced. At the same time, no cuts have been made to administration budgets as of the 2021 financial report.* Why is Whitman keeping its austerity measures in place after its endowment ballooned by nearly $300 MILLION? After Moody’s gave us an “Aa3 stable” rating, highlighting our “sizeable total wealth and very strong unrestricted liquidity”? And after the college enrolled the largest first-year class in its history? The AAUP acknowledges recent efforts to return some of the lost wages and benefits over the last year and a half. Nevertheless, WE NEED A CLEARER PICTURE.

 

Despite the College’s claims that the review process demonstrated shared governance, faculty, students and staff on the committee reported being marginalized or dismissed. Requests to slow the review process were denied, alumni concerns were belittled, faculty motions went unacknowledged and more. (2)

 

What this analysis will do: Whitman’s AAUP chapter has contracted with an expert in the field of higher education finances to review the college’s recent and historic endowment performance, its practice of tuition discounting, enrollment trends, and administration and instructional spending. Most importantly, this analysis will provide comparative data with our peer institutions to show us a clearer picture of where and how Whitman prioritizes its resources.

 

Since most members of our community do not have full access to the budgets or the technical expertise to fully understand spending patterns, especially in relation to other colleges, this analysis will help us be more informed citizens and enhance our ability to make requests based on knowledge and evidence. We believe that Whitman has the financial strength needed to continue providing an outstanding liberal arts education, but that doing so may require rebuilding areas that were weakened as a result of the Financial Sustainability Review. Please join us in working towards a better understanding of Whitman’s resource allocation… and, in turn, a better Whitman.

*Correction: In a Dec. 7 article in the Union-Bulletin, the college disputes cuts to ASWC and insists that cuts to administrative budgets HAVE been made to administration budgets (link below). From ASWC: "The ASWC budget was not cut this year as it is made up entirely of student fees in which Whitman has zero control of how we budget these funds. The only budget impact we had from the FSR [was to] take on funding club sports in exchange for the outdoor program director's position, which is significantly less than club sports." Other cuts to student programs that directly resulted from the FSR include the closing of the Language Learning Center. Reductions to many campus health services and library opening hours were also made as a result of reduced operating expenses approved for the 2021-22 budget. If facts in this statement are wrong, the WCAAUP is committed to correcting the record. Confusion over budgets and expenditures is, in fact, the very reason we have commissioned this external review. https://www.union-bulletin.com/news/education/criticizing-cuts-whitman-professors-launch-fundraiser-to-review-college-s-finances/article_f9709100-56fb-11ec-a854-c70447b4e703.html

1. https://whitmanwire.com/news/2021/02/26/budgets-are-statements-of-values-whitman-community-continues-to-protest-the-fsr/

 

2. https://medium.com/because-we-love-whitman/pulling-back-the-curtain-what-does-it-mean-when-a-liberal-arts-college-cuts-3-8-million-8b6c8d8781c4