Duquesne president outlines school finances

In the wake of University-wide budget cuts and faculty hiring freezes, Duquesne President Charles J. Dougherty spoke about the University's financial standing Monday afternoon to an audience of about 600 faculty and staff members in the Power Center ballroom during the first town hall meeting of the year.

Among other things, Dougherty announced that 70 Duquesne employees — 50 staff members and 20 faculty members — have currently accepted the voluntary buyout that the University began offering at the beginning of the spring semester. Employees have until the end of Fiscal 2012 to accept the buyout.

Dougherty also addressed rumors circulating, especially among Facilities Management employees, that the administration is considering job outsourcing as a way to alleviate the University's financial problems during the question-and-answer portion of the meeting. The University will not outsource any positions within the next year, he said, but the administration is considering outsourcing as a logical option for the near future.

"We are exploring outsourcing different functions," he said. "We have done it before, and we think that it's a prudent thing to do."

During a 10-minute speech at the beginning of the meeting, Dougherty stated that, when the University evaluated its budget for the 2012-2013 academic year, it concluded it would face a possible $10 million deficit and would need to make sweeping cuts.

In December, the University announced that it would reduce the budgets of every University department and organization by 7 to 12 percent, effective Jan. 4.

"Let me give you good news first to put you at ease. We have solved the budget problem for next year," Dougherty said. "There is no planning or contemplation of lay-offs, salary cuts or program elimination."

But Dougherty also said the budget is still pending review by the University Budget Committee and final Board approval.

Dougherty said the main reason for the budget cut was the national economic recession, which led to a 2 percent drop in enrollment. He added that a drop in graduate enrollment resulted to two-thirds of the budget reductions.

Dougherty said the reduction in revenue was caused by a smaller class of new students "compounded by a drop in revenue due to the graduation of large classes."

Since the University's operating budget is 85 percent dependent on student tuition, Dougherty said the cost-cutting plan was necessary. The plan to balance the budget also includes a hiring freeze, suspended salary increases and the introduction of a now-closed voluntary buyout that 50 staff members and 20 faculty members accepted.

Duquesne has taken these steps in order to avoid extensive tuition increases, Dougherty said.

"We moved tuition up 4.75 percent, still one of the lowest increases in decades," he said.

Dougherty ended his speech by stating that the administration will still need to address financial problems next year, "but nothing on the scale we have already addressed."

Facilities management employee Dave Henderson attended the meeting and said Dougherty's discussion of job outsourcing did not dispel his fears about job security. Henderson said he was also surprised by the lack of questions on the subject from audience members.

"I was very shocked that none of our Facilities members went up to ask a question," Henderson said. "Nobody laid the question straight of ‘Are we going to be here or not going to be here?'"

But he added that he doesn't "blame [Duquesne] for looking for alternatives."

David Somers, chairman and associate professor for the physical therapy department, said he came to the meeting looking for answers about the University-wide departmental budget, the cancellation of faculty searches and the recent voluntary buyouts that were offered to faculty and staff.

"When we learned our budgets were being reduced, folks were surprised by that." Somers said. "Dougherty answered that by stating that our circumstances were unexpected, therefore your circumstances are unexpected."

Somers said the meeting seemed to end with more answers than questions, which he said made it a success.

"The people at the top don't know what it is like in the trenches, and the people in the trenches don't know what it is like a couple of levels up," Somers said. "The best way to overcome those shortcomings is to have meetings like this."