AAS President Nick Pastan ’09 introduced College President Anthony Marx as he took the floor in the Cole Assembly Room. He spoke to the AAS senators and other concerned students about the College’s financial state. Marx estimated that the school’s endowment has suffered a 25 percent value loss in the past year, though he added that this was only an estimate. Marx continued to explain that the majority of the College’s investments are in venture capital and private equity rather than stocks, so it is difficult to determine an exact value. The school depends on its endowment for 40 percent of its yearly running costs, and operating costs have not decreased. Therefore, Marx said, it is necessary for the Board of Trustees to make some difficult decisions and cuts to “keep the budget relatively flat.”
Whether it be the eight to one student-faculty ratio or the financial aid program, what students, staff and faculty value “comes with a price tag.” The Board agrees on some key principles: not to lay off staff, to continue hiring as planned and not to compromise the integrity of education or the College’s financial aid commitments.
In order to secure these important policies, the College has had to make some difficult cuts. For instance, the College has instituted a salary freeze for faculty and staff, and the renovation of the Lord Jeffrey Inn has also been temporarily halted.
Additionally, The Board of Trustees has asked every department, from Physical Plant to Dining Services, to reduce its operating cost by five percent for the remainder of the year. As the hub of Amherst’s social life and the only dining hall on campus, it is perhaps the spending cuts in Valentine that have been most noticeable to students and have been met with the most criticism.
After President Marx’s speech, Dean of Students Ben Lieber, Director of Dining Services Charles Thompson and Director of Facilities Jim Brassord opened the forum to questions and comments from the students. Most students voiced complaints over specific decisions Valentine had made, such as removing cereal from dinner and reducing the size of the meat servings. Despite many such complaints, Mr. Thompson supported the Dining Services’ decisions with meticulous financial records, citing how removing options like juice at dinner or pesto sauce every day of the week together could save the College over $20,000 a year.
“We’re not looking to eliminate quality,” said Mr. Thompson, explaining that when it came to choosing between elimination or reduction of certain foods that students enjoy, Dining Services always tried to reduce rather than to eliminate the food entirely. In addition to maintaining student favorites, Thompson also said Dining Services did not want to have to cut the hours of service.
Some of the suggestions students brought up in the forum were already part of an ongoing dialogue between AAS and Dining Services. Among them is the idea of selling travel mugs to reduce the cost of replacing the coffee mugs students have begun removing from Valentine premises since the termination of the eco-friendly, disposable cups. Dining Services has been very upset by this development and has posted a sign asking students not to take the mugs, valued at six dollars a piece. Dining Services is also thinking about launching a program to increase student awareness of the amount of waste that occurs daily in Valentine. “There is an enormous amount of waste… and there’s a dollar [value] attached to that waste,” said Thompson.
The Board of Trustees has the authority over all final decisions about the College’s financial affairs and, having met in San Francisco on Jan. 24, will soon meet again in Chicago. Moreover, in an effort to be as transparent and inclusive as possible, the Board is also committed to visiting the campus during February to meet with certain student committees in a discussion of potential methods to reduce the budget.
In front of the students, Marx stressed the importance of having this conversation and including students, faculty and staff whenever possible in future discussions concerning the College budget. Marx seemed to want to brace students for more difficult decisions that may come in the future. However, he, like Lieber, stressed the College’s commitment to its ideals: “Let’s not make decisions that will really affect our core values, like the quality of education and financial aid. Let’s not do that until we know that we have to.”