The University’s administration hosted a virtual Town Hall via the Zoom meeting platform on May 8, where it shared information about its budget and its plans to welcome students back to campus this fall. Here are the highlights:
At this time, Westfield State does not plan to layoff or furlough employees, or transition any from 12-month to 10-month positions.
Members of the President’s cabinet shared that the Parenzo Hall renovation project will move forward to continue supporting Massachusetts’ economy. Further, the amount of deferred maintenance in Parenzo exceeds the University’s match and would cost more overall. Additionally, this is a strategic decision to improve critical instructional space for students and faculty.
President Ramon Torrecilha, Ph.D., shared that Westfield State is planning to open with a traditional on-ground fall schedule. However, he has established a task force to consider three contingency scenarios due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Those three scenarios are: a traditional on-ground experience; a hybrid approach consisting of online and on-ground experiences, and an exclusively online semester. He also noted that Governor Charlie Baker established a task force to determine how Massachusetts colleges and universities can move toward adjustments to its learning and working environment in the wake of the pandemic recovery. The state task force’s recommendation is expected by the end of May.
President Torrecilha also shared that revenue receipts in Massachusetts have decreased by $2 billion to date, which will impact the University’s proposed budget. Westfield State is considering a provisional budget, outlining a quarterly outlook as is moves forward through this highly volatile economic situation.
The University projects a $4.2 million budget shortfall this fiscal year (fiscal 2020) and intends to use reserves to fund that loss, explained Steve Taksar, Westfield State vice president for administration and finance.
The budget for fiscal 2021, however, is highly fluid due to many unknown factors, according to Taksar. The University is projecting a loss of between $11 million and $16 million in fiscal 2021 and hopes to recover portions of that loss by not filling open positions, a hiring freeze, savings from the remote work environment, among other avenues.
University officials are asking employees to offer budget-saving ideas as it recovers from its financial shortfall and adapts its learning and working environment moving into the fall semester and beyond. Individuals with budget-saving ideas are encouraged to contact their supervisors.