Earlier this month, President Greg Cant sent an email to the campus community regarding the headline of the university finding itself in a budget shortfall.
In this email, Cant reassured students that the school is standing strong financially and that despite any challenges, Wilkes will continue to give students the high-quality academic experience that they deserve.
The talks of a budget shortfall came from an analysis of the current fiscal year in which Wilkes University will be facing a deficit of $7 million. This amounts to over 6% of the university’s operating budget. This projected shortfall comes in after a fiscal year in which the university faced a $2.8 million deficit or about 2.5% of the university’s operating budget.
In an additional email by Cant’s office, Cant stated he views this situation not as a financial crisis, but as “a response to changing demographics and increased financial pressures faced by institutions of higher education across the country.”
He noted that these pressures have been going on since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The office also gave context into their statement of the school remaining financially strong due to a $75 million endowment, in-demand high impact academic programs and the over 5,300 undergraduate and graduate students attending the university.
Wilkes business professor, Dr. Justin Matus, assessed Cant’s messages. He takes an optimistic view with talks of a budget shortfall, adding that if there were to be any cutbacks for students, that they probably wouldn’t notice any.
“Our mission at Wilkes is the student experience, $7 million is a big number but it’s not the end of the world,” he said.
Matus speaks from his 21-year experience as a professor at Wilkes, noting the 2008 stock market crash and COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s a challenge of the higher-level education industry rather than a Wilkes challenge.”
He added that universities are in a game of business and optics and the way Cant is playing it is with logic in mind.
“It may happen again, but we can make our way out of it. If somebody’s got to go, it’s not going to be us,” Matus said.
Despite the positive words by President Cant and Dr. Matus, some students are still worried about what a budget shortfall could mean for them and their individual student experience at Wilkes.
P-3 pharmacy student, Julianne Ernest vocalized her concerns even with the reassurance from Cant’s email.
“There’s always a potential for cutbacks even if things are going well. It’s just how they’re going to continue to make campus life good for students,” Ernest said.
Ernest also noted her concern for club funding and leadership programs. As for her being in a graduate program, she’s unsure of the impact that may or may not come.
Emma Davenport, a sophomore early education major, also stated her concerns about clubs losing funding. In particular, she talked about events such as the spring concert and comedy show going away due to supposed cutbacks.
“I feel we should be giving the money to programs, certain majors and research,” she said.
On top of her concern for club funding and programs, Davenport suggested giving more allocated funds to more restaurant and food options on campus.
