College campuses not immune to nation's money woes
Money’s tight. A tough economy is chomping bites out of wallets and budgets nationwide. And while Franklin doesn’t face a crisis on the scale of Wall Street’s, the college is feeling the pain, too.
Faced with higher fuel costs and an endowment that fluctuates with a stock market gone bonkers, Bryan Spetter, the college’s finance chief, said small cuts to trim the budget are necessary now.
"We’re trimming expenditures, delaying small projects and cutting admissions trips to high schools," he said.
But a budget with room to move, he said, should mean no major cuts loom in the immediate future.
"One of the main things that’s affecting what we do is the price of fuel and gasoline," he said.
That’s because fuel costs affect electricity prices. The college’s utilities budget, he said, is about $1 million per year. If electricity costs 10 percent more, the college has to find an extra $100,000 to pay the bill.
The college’s endowment – between $85 million and $90 million, depending on how the stock market performs that day – is a potential long-term cause for concern, too.
"With the stock market turbulence lately the evaluation of it can fluctuate pretty greatly," Spetter said. "That doesn’t really affect what we do as far as running the school; that’s more of a long term issue."
The budget is flexible to allow for price increases in important areas.
"[Money] would come from trimming expenditures elsewhere. Perhaps a capital project that we were going to do sometime during the fiscal year may have to be delayed another year. Marketing is another one; we may need to trim the marketing to new students and marketing materials," Spetter said. "It’s always a give and take."
The economy is also affecting many professors and activities they plan. Sara Colburn-Alsop teaches "Spanish in the Workplace," where she invites guest speakers from all over the state to speak to her classes. Gas prices have made her reconsider who she invites.
"This fall, I have been mindful of gas prices and have tried to invite more local professionals, and for those that are traveling longer distances, I am giving them gas gift certificates to cover their costs."
The maintenance crew is also feeling the pinch with the high prices of gasoline.
"The biggie right now for most people is gas," said Mark Lecher, director of plant operations. "We have two main areas we use vehicles. We have the fleet where people check out vans to use for travel. The other thing is our vehicles that we use for maintenance. So, lawn mowing and all of that uses diesel which has increased [in price]."
Even though gasoline is a budget-breaker for many, natural gas and utility bills have been more of a problem.
"The other biggie with increase in cost [has been] the utility bill. Natural gas has been increasing over the last several years. We try to save where we can," Lecher said.
Winter Term travel has also been slightly affected by cost increases, especially with airfare.
"I raised the price [of Winter Term travel] from $2300 to $2500. The truth is that I could have raised it even more. Since gas is up, flight cost is up about $300-400 dollars," Colburn-Alsop said.
The number of people going is slightly down from the last trip, but it’s hard to pin-point monetary reasons as the primary cause.
"Initially, I had about fifteen interested people. Now, we have eleven confirmed participants. The last time the trip went, we took thirteen. I can never tell if people decide not to go out of honest-to-goodness money woes or simply fear," Dr. Colburn-Alsop said.
Even the athletic department is feeling the crunch.
"[The status of the economy is being felt] significantly in transportation costs," said Athletic Director Kerry Prather.
He said that recruiting trips to high schools have affected the budget, and carpooling is being done to help out with the increase in gas prices. He said that trying to move the teams from vans to chartered vehicles has been the biggest issue in recent years.
"With fuel increases for charter [vehicles], it’s an ongoing challenge," he said.
With the need for extra money, the Athletic Department is raising money to help with the strain on the budget. Prather said that they are trying to fundraise in the hometowns of players. Players also helped with parking at the Indiana State Fair to offset some of the increased costs in the department.
"We’re all doing this together," he said.
Food Services is also feeling the pinch here at Franklin.
"There is about an 8 to 12 percent increase as costs come in," said Food Service Director Les Petroff.
He went on to say that none of the price increases are being passed on to the students; that the price has only effected them. Because the menu is prepared by the corporation, no cutbacks have occurred. All of the food choices have stayed the same, even in light of the significant price increase of milk and other food items.
