Rider University - Shadow Yearbook (Lawrenceville, NJ)

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Financing at Rider: Its Problems, Its Policies by Stephen A. Maurer, Vice-President for Business and Finance EDlTOR'S NOTE: The following was written by Mr. Mau- rer for publication in the spring, 1 969 Rider Alumni Quar- terly. Although some of the facts and figures are now outdated-e.g., there has been an increase in tui- tion-the article's basic premise still holds painfully true. Most Americans today are preoccupied with major crises such as the war in Viet Nam, the high cost of liv- ing, crime in the streets, the balance of payments prob- lem, the Pueblo incident and the call-up of the reserves. There is yet another crisis on the horizon which gives rise to a certain disquietude-the financial crisis in higher education. Max Lerner, the noted columnist, recently observed that rising costs and the educational explosion have dynamited the whole structure of college financing. Alan Pifer, President of New York's Carnegie Founda- tion, in a recent address to the Association of American Colleges stated that most U.S. colleges, public and pri- vate, Kare in such desperate financial straits that by the year 2000, they will be almost totally dependent on the Federal Government for support. Robert F. Goheen, President of Princeton University, adds that .. more substantial hope must be placed in our ability to achieve new and additional revenue from individuals, from corpo- rations and from the Federal Government. Table I. Data on Students and Faculty, Rider College Item 1956-57 1965-66 1967-68 No. Students fFuIl Timej 1226 3427 3500 No. of Faculty tFull Timel 65 1 50 1 90 Student-Faculty Ratio 1 8.8:1 22.8:1 18:1 Tuition Cost S600 31,024 51,024 Total Compensation Faculty S335,530 51,391,250 52,31 8,266 Avg. Compensation to Faculty 35,162 59,275 312,200 ln view of these observations and on the basis of our own analysis of all the information available on the sub- ject, it seems safe to predict that those in the college community who assume that the hen with the golden egg will always be there are in for a rude awakening unless the continuing financial squeeze facing private in- stitutions is dramatically reversed, a course which ap- pears unlikely. ln the next decade, U.S. college enrollments will in- crease 49 percent and are expected to exceed 8 million by the fall of 1970-up 2.6 million from 1965. However, of the 2300 colleges and universities in the United States today, two-thirds are private institutions with only a 35 percent share of student enrollment, down from 50 per- cent in 1950. This limited share is expected to drop still further to 25 percent by 1975. Some educators estimate that in the next ten years, eight of every ten students en- tering college will be on a public campus. These long range estimates portend serious trouble for the smaller, weaker private colleges faced with the prospect of 30 merger or surrender of their status as entirely independ- ent private schools. Among those universities which have recently become affiliated with state systems are Pittsburgh, Temple, Buffalo, Kansas City and Houston. This paradox, i.e., the predicted increase in enroll- ments and the diminution in net operating revenue, can be explained by the fact that the costs of running a col- lege are skyrocketing. Over the next decade, the costs of higher education in this country are expected to double to between S20 billion to S25 billion. Rider College faces severe monetary problems today. The table above clearly indicates the substantial in- creases in our instructional costs since 1956. lt should be noted that we have succeeded in attaining a student- faculty ratio of 18:1 despite soaring costs. Approximately 50 percent of what it costs to operate the College goes to instructional and general ex- penditures, with the lion's share in the form of faculty salaries and fringe benefits. The rest goes to organized research, student aid Cscholarships and grants-in-aidj, auxiliary enterprises, amortization of loans and capital outlay. Since 1956, the average annual salary of our fac- ulty, including fringe benefits, has increased by 136 per- cent, while tuition during the same period went up only 70 percent. Yet as we develop those courses of action Y ? ' 5.4. i 155211 if - ,.v. 1.

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FADE IN: The bookstore. Close-up shot. As the scene develops, we see a couple of girls in bi- kinis. ln the middle of the winter, no less! What matter of madness is this? According to Sue Flow, one of those girls in bikinis, lt wasn't madness at allg we were just filming our final project for Dr. Mott's ISP course. The course- Televising the Short Story -met vir- tually every day during the month of January. Each meeting varied in time, with an average session lasting several hours, and there was much additional time spent by the 14 students on reading and individual projects. Granted, there was a lot of work, Sue said, but it was well worth it. We all learned at least something about the subject, and even had a good time while doing so. Dr. Bertram Mott, the faculty adviser for the project and a member of the English Department, also felt that the students' endeavors were worthwhile. They ex- pended a great deal of time and effort of both their group and individual projects, he noted. Effort that was in evidence by the high quality of their final productionfsy. The group production was a short story by John Up- dike, A 81 P lt deals with two girls in bathing suits who enter a store and are asked to leave because of their at- tire. A worker stands up for them, then quits his job- only to look around and find, much to his dismay, that assisted by Jon Blausten, who served as chief photo- grapher and technician. Blausten, when asked about the groups's final prod- uct, had this to say: Absolutely fantastic . . . especially the camera work. The students also had to read and present their own critique of over 20 short stories as to their possible adaptive value for television. They then had to take one of these stories and de- velop a full length adaptation for it. In addition, a final course requirement was to write and direct a three-minute segment of a short story to be videotaped. Each student had to do this and, recipro- cally, act in each other's skits. Perhaps Dr. Mott might have even found a budding Dustin Hoffman or Faye Dunaway in the group? Or, even better, a future Reginald Rose? 141 fs 3 Independent Study Program 1971. A success, as judged by the vast majority of students. There was only one major disappointment. Fiay Male's proposed trip to Vietnam just never materialized. ln- stead, his class spent their time here, in the somewhat safer Cthough not nearly as excitingj confines of the classroom. More than offsetting this, however, were such ex- periences as a skiing venture to Europe, a look at mo- tion pictures, past and present, a study of the so-called Executive Jungleg trips to museums, retailing estab- lishments and theatrical procutions in various courses, the girls are not there. etc. and so forth. Q Cory McCabe was the student director, and he was ., lf -- QMQ1 ,fx ,ffggxh i 531.5 if Q 1 fnlg I -- X j l ,'fi' 75 i?2'f4:'Jj-71 'tg' I , 4 X1 ' ' sw W . 14 lr' 1 x li Ai W rl 1 , --Q:-E..il ' 1 if r 1 3,1 X V. x 1 I Alf if Q: Wjillllgliijiji j- f-.MA l 1 ss.. if 'H X s fiairl a-Q-g l44'l'-- Bfllf.umfAuwilm1l QAX Eiil1W!!!l fiffififflij-1e.1f 'ifllli ,1.' ft - B iivhig' -1401, - Auf., ff ffggqa-gf:,,5gv3,v ii , Q,-.j , l fir-, I4-,i If ,K hh 1 K '-M--' ,' -,1j22Z5':E,v ,Wi l1 A . ' 'i'T5ffIf?'?aB'-1' fi f' , tl ill 1 'iggggzgv 1 1, j .,,- - s2?i- I l 11. l 1 Q 1 1 lf ' 1 1 1 1'i Nr- ' j 1 'i ll ff . - 1 1 1 1 1 V 1 A l 1 . 1' ' f li K 1 i. ' i V ' M I ' A A 29

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which will attain our stated objective of becoming a Col- lege of excellence and ultimately a university of dis- tinction, we must continue our quest for outstanding scholars to staff the faculty. This means, of course, a commitment to pay even higher salaries in the future, taxing still further the ability of the College to balance its budgets. Adding to our fiscal woes are the rapidly esca- lating costs of operating the newly emerging graduate programs, the computer center, a growing library, addi- tional science laboratories, the fine arts program and many other areas of academic growth. Table l also reveals that tuition has not gone up since 1965. Nor, may we add, have room and board charges or fees. Consequently, Rider College faces this year, for the first time since 1956, an operating deficit of substantial proportions. In order to minimize the impact of the im- pending deficit, the Trustees recently authorized an in- crease in tuition, fees, and room and board charges ef- fective September 1968. Yet, in spite of this urgently needed action, we expect to incur a deficit in operations next year as well. ln fact, in our report dated August 1, 1967, to the Long Range Planning Committee of the Col- lege, we predicted operating deficits in eight of the ten years prognosticated-this in the face of anticipated peri- odic increases in tuition, fees and room and board charges over the next decade! We certainly do not advocate balancing the budget by curtailing necessary expenditures, nor do we believe that raising tuition and fees and room and board represents the soundest approach to maintaining financial stability. ln fact, this latter course of action would place us in jeop- ardy of pricing ourselves out of the educational market. lt is absolutely imperative, in our judgment, that if Rider is to fulfill its mission, attain its objectives and keep its head above potentially troubled economic waters, it must un- cover significant new sources of revenue to offset the rapidly rising costs of operating the College. While tuition and fees traditionally produce more than half of the total educational and general income in pri- vate institutions, nonetheless, continued reliance on this source of revenue must be de-emphasized. Therefore, outside sources of income are required to preclude the need to raise tuition and fees every year or two to bal- ance operating budgets. Practically speaking, the com- petitive disadvantage to which we would be subjected because of the expected proliferation of colleges in the State would render such a course inadvisable. Because budget surpluses have dried up and the rate of gift giving 1Table ll1 has been historically insufficient to close the dollar gap resulting from ever increasing oper- ational costs, the need to acquire important and substan- tial new gifts, exclusive of established alumni giving, is urgent. The College possesses the capability to fund operating deficits for a limited period of time. However, when one considers that the total value of our endowment fund is just short of 83 million, it is readily apparent that budg- etary losses will soon threaten the very existence of the institution unless, ofcourse, new sources of revenue are found or operating income is increased substantially by raising student fees periodically. Under the guidance of the Finance Committee of the Board, we have husbanded very carefully our resources and have realized significant gains in investment income in the Endowment Fund over the past ten years. Table Ill indicates how effectively permanent funds have been uti- lized. The policy of the Finance Committee is not to trade the market, but rather to seek long-term capital appreciation to protect the College against the erosion of inflation with due regard to the need for current income. Temporary funds are invested in U.S. Treasury Bills on a phased maturity schedule coinciding with our cash flow budget commitments. Obviously, if the Endowment Fund is depleted to fund operating deficits, the substantial gains illustrated in Table Ill will be sharply reduced in the future. If the young people of this State are to realize their justified aspirations for higher education, some effective means must be found for ensuring the optimum utiliza- tion of all facilities, whether tax supported or independ- ent. Such optimum use can be realized only if students from economically disadvantaged families are subsidized to the extent necessary to enable them to attend inde- pendent institutions whose tuition charges, in the ab- sence of state appropriations, are necessarily much higher than those of the state institutions. The proposed New Jersey Higher Education Tuition Aid Act is designed to rectify the present imbalance which exists between the private and public sectors by establishing tuition aid grants to be awarded by the State Scholarship Commis- sion to students who prove financial need. These grants would vary in amount according to need and would not exceed S500 per semester or the cost of tuition per se- mester at the institution attended less 3225, whichever is the smaller amount. Table II. Contributions, Gifts and Grants Year for the Period 1 957-1 967 Amount 1956 57 S 21,812 1957 58 22,920 1 958 59 1 8,616 1959 6011.1 137,654 1960 61 98,268 1 961 62 95,1 42 1962 6312.1 191,117 1 963 6412.1 1 85,590 1964 65 12.1 21 0,547 1965 6613.1 219,156 1 966 67 14.1 206,228 1. Memorial Hall Classroom Building Campaign. 2. 83,000,000 Capital Campaign. 3. Of this amount, 871,775 represents government grants and miscellaneous restricted categories of contributions. 4. Of this amount, 869,372 came from government grants and also includes restricted contributions, such as scholarships. D Table III. Income on Investments in the Endowment Fund Year Amount 1 956 57 S 3,420 1 957-58 1 1 ,672 1 958-59 8,246 1 959-60 8,01 9 1 960-61 9,1 42 1961-62 10,026 1 962-63 11,292 1 963-64 1 2,905 1 964-65 1 2,789 1965-66 43,255 1966-67 98,987 31