Emory Report
November 3, 2008
Volume 61, Number 10

Emory priorities
President Jim Wagner outlined the following
budget priorities in an
Oct. 8 community letter:

• Investing in competitive, merit-based salaries to reward, retain and attract the best faculty and staff.
• Investing in the financial aid required to retain and attract the best students, regardless of their economic standing.
• Completing all the construction we have started and reviewing the timing and pace of future projects.
• Investing in research and teaching in accord with school-based and
University-wide strategies.
• Investing in Campaign Emory, the success of which is critical to our future.
• Investing in research compliance and support.

To read the letter, visit www.emory.edu/home news/releases/2008/10/
emory -and-the-economy.html.

 

    

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November 3, 2008
Emory manages economic decline

By nancy Seideman

For the past two months Emory leadership has been heavily engaged in assessing and developing strategies to manage the impact of the national economic downturn on the University’s current operation, and on the budgeting process for fiscal year 2010.

At the Oct. 29 Administrative Council meeting, Executive Vice President for Finance Administration Mike Mandl and Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Earl Lewis conveyed that ongoing decreases in cash management income, due to falling interest rates, have resulted in the need to cut an estimated $6 million from this fiscal year’s unrestricted operating budget, which began Sept. 1.

The amount, which represents less than 1 percent of a total $702 million unrestricted budget, will be split between schools/colleges and administrative units. The Ways and Means Committee will send letters to deans and directors within the next few days with more detailed information, including a timeline for budget revisions.

Emory Healthcare, which has different revenue streams, is in the process of evaluating the impact that the economy is having on the health care industry and will address those effects in future communications.
Assuming that the current national economic trend continues, the Ways and Means Committee determined that there will need to be expense reductions in the $60 million range for FY10 — a challenge that deans and directors were asked to begin addressing now in partnership with their colleagues with the goal of having a balanced budget in place by February. The $60 million figure will impact the unrestricted operating budget and other activities funded from endowment and investment support. FY10 begins on Sept. 1, 2009.

In managing this financial issue, Lewis encouraged his colleagues to take the opportunity to “step back and consider what you should and should not be doing. We’re inviting participation from everyone across the board to be creative and strategic in determining what is necessary and germane to our mission, and what is not.”

President Jim Wagner reinforced the University priorities that he set forth in his Oct. 8 community letter. “The story continues,” Wagner said. “We don’t know where the bottom is to the national economic situation, but we have restated our principles, and we know what action we need to take now to preserve our priorities as we move forward.”

Administrative Council members discussed the opportunities presented by the budgetary necessity to reexamine priorities, emphasized the need for managers to make sure that employees who were facing personal financial difficulties knew of University resources to help them, and encouraged leadership to continue to communicate about all aspects of the economic situation to the Emory community.

Mandl noted the challenge of maintaining energy and momentum when “people are working very hard already” to build an infrastructure to support Emory’s aspirations and vision. “Where appropriate, we need to decrease current activities in areas that do not support our priorities. How we manage and lead through this situation can make this a positive time for Emory,” Mandl said. “I have every confidence that will be the case.”