2008 Woodie Awards
Students deserve openness from administration on budget numbers
Issue date: 10/13/05 Section: Opinion/Editorial
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Public universities are required by federal law to disclose their budgets. The national Freedom of Information Act and individual state's open records laws require government institutions to disclose their records, including their budgets, to inquiring citizens. As a private university, Webster is outside the loop and doesn't have to disclose its public records. As a result, the school budget can be tough to come by if school officials don't feel like handing it out.
Webster is different from many private schools however, and owes its students a clear record of what their tuition money is going toward. Unlike schools like Washington University, which had a 2004 endowment of nearly $4.1 billion Webster had a much lower endowment of $41 million. Endowments are monies given to a university to be reinvested into the workings of the university.
Washington University and Webster University obviously have much different operating costs, but the fact Webster has such a smaller endowment to draw funds from means this university is almost solely tuition funded. Nearly every dollar students pay to attend classes here goes back into the campus.
This is all the more reason why students should know exactly how their money is being spent. The university doesn't have to report back to the federal government and it really doesn't have to report anything back to students here, but it should. Webster has an even greater obligation than public universities to report its budget back to its students.
When university administrators are forthcoming with financial reports it creates a bond of trust across the rest of the university. However, when administrators decline to release such information, it reflects poorly upon them. When an organization fudges the release of records and budgets, it always looks as though they have something to hide.
There are certainly many reasons to justify the budget cuts this year. But if the administration expects students and faculty to do their best to cut corners to make up for the loss in revenue, they should be willing to tell the Webster community exactly why it is cutting the fat.
Webster is different from many private schools however, and owes its students a clear record of what their tuition money is going toward. Unlike schools like Washington University, which had a 2004 endowment of nearly $4.1 billion Webster had a much lower endowment of $41 million. Endowments are monies given to a university to be reinvested into the workings of the university.
Washington University and Webster University obviously have much different operating costs, but the fact Webster has such a smaller endowment to draw funds from means this university is almost solely tuition funded. Nearly every dollar students pay to attend classes here goes back into the campus.
This is all the more reason why students should know exactly how their money is being spent. The university doesn't have to report back to the federal government and it really doesn't have to report anything back to students here, but it should. Webster has an even greater obligation than public universities to report its budget back to its students.
When university administrators are forthcoming with financial reports it creates a bond of trust across the rest of the university. However, when administrators decline to release such information, it reflects poorly upon them. When an organization fudges the release of records and budgets, it always looks as though they have something to hide.
There are certainly many reasons to justify the budget cuts this year. But if the administration expects students and faculty to do their best to cut corners to make up for the loss in revenue, they should be willing to tell the Webster community exactly why it is cutting the fat.