Jordanne Semper-Scott

Contributing Writer

President Anne McCall returned to the Wooster community with enthusiasm for the number of faculty and staff present at the fiscal year budget meeting. She also expressed gratitude for their support and well wishes throughout her cancer treatment. Cathy Finks, interim vice president for enrollment, accompanied her during the meeting. David Jones, vice president for finance and business, played a key role in the planning of the fiscal year budget plan but was not able to attend. 

McCall shared the board’s approval of the fiscal year 2025 budget plan which has a $5.8 million deficit. Last year, the board approved a deficit of $7.4 million, which McCall said demonstrated the board’s “great confidence” in McCall and other officials like Jones. Per McCall, these approved deficits are part of a detailed budget realignment process in the hopes of creating a healthier budget long-term.

“[The board is] giving us the permission that they had given us the year before, albeit at a somewhat slightly lower level,” McCall said. “Showing … we’re not really where I think the College thought it would be in terms of the budget realignment, but we’re going in the right direction, right?”

 Last year, Wooster was able to complete last year without a deficit because they reallocated specific previously-unused funds in the endowment. While she thanked the Wooster community, including employees in the business office, McCall encouraged faculty and staff to be strategic in terms of how they allocated endowed income.

 “People have given us this money not to save, but they have given it [to] us to spend [on] our mission,” McCall said. “We have upon us an obligation to work in this year, next year and the following year to end up [with] a balanced budget situation.” 

Because the College cannot draw on these funds in the future, McCall said that campus community members would have to innovate to achieve financial stability for the College.

 “We need to engage in the whole variety of technical strategies and tactics to come to a balanced budget,” McCall remarked. 

The College accumulated less endowment funds of $2.2 million and operating expenses increased to $1.4 million. Other items in the budget include endowment funds whose use is restricted; they can only be used for specific purposes or for specific departments. Her team evaluated these restricted accounts and realized that they needed to use about $500,000 of their payoff a year for normal expenditures. 

Finks continued the presentation to discuss the fall 2024 student enrollment. She reported that this fall’s enrollment of 372 first years and 26 transfers is smaller than in fall 2023. The international student population decreased to 11%. This resulted in an anticipated College revenue decrease of $1.5 million. Net tuition revenue decreased by 5%. In partnership with the office of marketing and communications, the admissions office plans to increase fall ’25 enrollment by expanding early brand awareness campaigns, enhancing publications and launching a Priority Application that would identify candidates for Wooster.   

McCall hopes this new approach will lead to an improvement in the budget and enhance the academic and social nature for future Wooster students.