2008 Woodie Awards
Budget cuts trickle down to students
By: Ryan Martin
Issue date: 10/13/05 Section: News
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Webster University departments and student organizations are operating on less revenue due to budget cuts this year.
Since Webster is a private institution, it is not bound by public records laws to release budget information. Members of the university's finance department wouldn't furnish these figures.
Webster is a tuition-driven university, said Debra Carpenter, dean of the School of Communications. Thirty-four of Webster's 103 worldwide campuses are military campuses. Webster hasn't received as much tuition as it thought it would due to the current deployment of military students, she said.
The budget is figured a year before it's implemented based on projected enrollment. Since the military campuses aren't bringing in as much tuition as originally figured, officials are having to deal with the loss of revenue, Carpenter said.
"Everyone is looking at the budget to find ways to eliminate things that aren't critical," Carpenter said. "It's exactly what you would do at home."
President Richard Meyers said the cuts are due to circumstances that are out of the university's hands.
"This year, a number of events came together to cause a blip in the very positive enrollment trends we have experienced recently, such as increasing financial aid commitments, military deployments and the hurricanes of last fall," Meyers said.
He said with the cooperation of Webster's faculty and staff, the university will adjust its expectations to the fiscal realities it now has. Meyers said he has every expectation that Webster will have a successful year academically and fiscally.
Student activities has gone through a revamping stage due to the cuts.
"Mailings have been cut from student affairs," said Associate Vice President and Dean of Students Ted Hoef. "We no longer send letters out to new and returning students. Athletic banquets have become reward ceremonies with no food served."
Student organizations have also felt the cuts. Luis Blanco, president of Students in Free Enterprise, said the organization has felt the loss of funds. The group's budget may not seem like it suffered a huge loss, but it may prove to be significant to the organization, Blanco said.
Since Webster is a private institution, it is not bound by public records laws to release budget information. Members of the university's finance department wouldn't furnish these figures.
Webster is a tuition-driven university, said Debra Carpenter, dean of the School of Communications. Thirty-four of Webster's 103 worldwide campuses are military campuses. Webster hasn't received as much tuition as it thought it would due to the current deployment of military students, she said.
The budget is figured a year before it's implemented based on projected enrollment. Since the military campuses aren't bringing in as much tuition as originally figured, officials are having to deal with the loss of revenue, Carpenter said.
"Everyone is looking at the budget to find ways to eliminate things that aren't critical," Carpenter said. "It's exactly what you would do at home."
President Richard Meyers said the cuts are due to circumstances that are out of the university's hands.
"This year, a number of events came together to cause a blip in the very positive enrollment trends we have experienced recently, such as increasing financial aid commitments, military deployments and the hurricanes of last fall," Meyers said.
He said with the cooperation of Webster's faculty and staff, the university will adjust its expectations to the fiscal realities it now has. Meyers said he has every expectation that Webster will have a successful year academically and fiscally.
Student activities has gone through a revamping stage due to the cuts.
"Mailings have been cut from student affairs," said Associate Vice President and Dean of Students Ted Hoef. "We no longer send letters out to new and returning students. Athletic banquets have become reward ceremonies with no food served."
Student organizations have also felt the cuts. Luis Blanco, president of Students in Free Enterprise, said the organization has felt the loss of funds. The group's budget may not seem like it suffered a huge loss, but it may prove to be significant to the organization, Blanco said.