Wright State’s finances: What’s really going on now?

Wright State University’s budget cuts appear to be already paying off.

After implementing $30.8 million in budget cuts this year and austerity measures such as cancelling overnight travel and catering, the school has begun to rebound quicker than initially expected.

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Wright State administrators announced the developments during a special board of trustees meeting on Tuesday at the university.

Below are the three biggest takeaways from the meeting regarding Wright State’s finances.

1. Reserves were boosted in FY wo17 by more than expected

Wright State ended fiscal year 2017 with about $41 million in reserves when administrators projected the total would only be $31 million.

The unexpected increase is mostly due to austerity measures that included eliminating overnight travel and catering, among other things.

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The $10 million in added reserves was accomplished even as revenue from Wright State’s summer classes came in around $2 million less than last year, said Jeff Ulliman, vice president of business and finance.

“We made savings both on budgeted salaries, benefits and then on spending,” provost Tom Sudkamp said. “That really did make a significant payoff to end the fiscal year.”

2. Could Wright State now avoid fiscal watch?

WSU administrators have predicted since June that the school would almost certainly enter state fiscal watch within the next two years.

The state measures the financial health of each public college and every institution that falls below a state threshold two years in a row is placed on fiscal watch.

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Although Wright State is still expected to fall below that threshold this year, Ulliman said there’s a slight chance that the extra $10 million may keep Wright State from falling below it again next year and onto fiscal watch.

In fiscal watch, the state will take over the financial control of the university. Even if the university does still get placed on fiscal watch, administrators said the boost in reserves will help the school move off much quicker than initially anticipated.

3. Despite the boost, WSU is already behind for FY 2018

The school’s board of trustees were told Tuesday the school has already started to fall behind on its goal of boosting reserves by another $6 million in fiscal year 2018.

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The school is on track to fall about $2.3 million short of that goal. The shortfall was caused by some of the university’s departments having “late information” that wasn’t factored into the budget approved by trustees in June.

In an attempt to correct that shortfall, Wright State’s strategic hiring committee will review every vacant position to see if its is a priority, Sudkamp said. The university could save around $11 million in attrition every year, Sudkamp said, so filling the $2.3 million gap should be relatively easy.

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