Eastern Faces Million-Dollar Deficit Shortfall Could Lead To Fewer Teachers, Programs, School President Says

Eastern Washington University is bracing for a deficit of $1.5 million to $3.5 million, President Stephen Jordan said Wednesday.

The shortfall was created in part by shifting money for building projects and equipment purchases to support day-to-day operations - a practice the state frowns on.

Jordan said in an interview that he’s mulling solutions to the shortfall that may lead to fewer teachers and academic programs at the largest four-year university in Spokane County.

“I believe we’re going to be successful,” said Jordan, who took control of the school last July. “But I worry that we might implode before we make it. The question is: Do we have the fortitude to survive the challenges ahead? That’s what change is all about.”

The projected deficit for fiscal 2000, which begins July 1, was disclosed earlier this month at a meeting of the university provost and deans. Officials expect to present a solution to Eastern’s board of trustees at its May meeting.

Jordan fixed a $1.5 million deficit last year by carrying forward money left over from various Eastern accounts.

Correcting the problem for the future may be more painful, depending on the ultimate size of the deficit. Fall enrollment, tuition flexibility and negotiations with Eastern’s teachers union all will affect the size of the deficit.

“This problem goes back five years,” Jordan said. “The only question is whether we want to try and solve it in one year or two years.”

Eastern is considering several steps, including elimination of low-enrollment programs and offering early retirement to faculty, according to a memorandum to the deans.

More than 7,400 full- and part-time students attend Eastern in Cheney or downtown Spokane. Officials said Eastern has 323 full-time teaching positions, representing full-time tenured faculty, part-time adjuncts and teaching assistants.

Eastern’s current annual budget is $118 million. Those tax dollars go toward educating the equivalent of 7,739 full-time students.

But Eastern hasn’t had that many students since 1994, when a combination of tuition hikes and poor management drove enrollment down. The number of full-time students fell to 6,907 in 1997-98, recovering to a projected 7,185 this year.

Jordan outlined several things that affect Eastern’s deficit and possible solutions:

Using capital funds to pay for daily operations. This improper practice could cut $700,000 in the operations budget.

Jordan said his staff recently discovered that former employees had used capital dollars to subsidize dayto-day operations. If true, that would not be permitted by the state’s Office of Financial Management.

“My experience has been that agencies don’t do it, because in the end, people find out,” said John Fricke, a former OFM official who handles operating and capital budget policy for the Higher Education Coordinating Board.

A proposed $800,000 reserve fund.

Jordan wants this money as a cushion against unexpected expenses. But it may be politically costly at a time when teachers are seeking more money and the Legislature is funding Eastern for more students than it actually educates.

A dispute with the United Faculty of Eastern over its claim to a $300,000 “productivity pay raise.”

The union claims its 1995 contract requires Eastern to pay the bonus when student enrollment jumps by 2 percent or more, as it did this year. But Jordan refuses to pay because student numbers are still far below 1995, which he says is the base year for the contract.

New legislation that would let Eastern reduce tuition for some students.

The proposed Western Undergraduate Exchange could lure 120 students from 14 western states by lowering costly nonresident tuition, said government relations director George Durrie. The program has been endorsed by the House, but needs approval from the Senate and the governor.