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At the system level, work has been underway for more than two years to assess the costs of instruction, academic supports, student services, and institutional operations (i.e., Integrated Post-secondary Education Data System [IPEDS] categories) and to create benchmarks against which campuses can assess their performance and financial sustainability. We are an outlier in the º£½ÇÉçÇø in several areas, and not flatteringly so. For example, at º£½ÇÉçÇøCI:

• • our total expenses equate to $33,974 spent per full-time equivalent student (FTES), exceeding the systemwide average by $12,851. Our expenses per FTES are also higher compared to campuses most similar in size and to other under-enrolled campuses.
  • the student-to-faculty ratio (SFR) when considering tenure-track faculty alone is 27.2 students per faculty member, compared to the systemwide average of 36.3. When considering tenure-track and non-tenure-track faculty together, our SFR is 14.6 students per faculty member, compared to the systemwide average of 20.4. Comparisons on this metric to like-sized and under-enrolled campuses are similar.
  • the student-to-employee ratio when considering the total number of stateside employees (i.e., faculty, staff, and administrators) serving our student body, per 4.9 students per one full-time equivalent employee (FTE). The systemwide average is one FTE per 8.2 FTES, and again, comparisons on this metric to like-sized and under-enrolled campuses are similar.

Clearly, as far as the system is concerned, it is not whether we right-size our campus operations given our enrollment realities, but how.

An imperfect but possible way to think about right-sizing takes us yet again to enrollment as the driving metric. In 2012-13, annualized enrollment was 4,152 FTES, compared to our Fall 2024 FTES of 4,154. However, in 2012-13, we had 19% fewer employees, as noted in the table below. In 2013 our General Fund allocation was $75 million. Adjusting for inflation, this would be approximately $102 million in 2024. With the $11.2 million reduction to our 2024-25 budget and the $17 million reduction planned for 2025-26, our adjusted base budget will be approximately $127 million next year.

HC - Head Count; FTE - Full Time Equivalent; TTF - Tenure Track Faculty; NTTF - Non-Tenure Track Faculty; MPP - Management Personnel Plan

As correctly noted by a Strategic Resource Planning Committee (SRPC) member during the 12/17/2024 SRPC meeting, if tenure-track and non-tenure-track faculty were combined in the table above, the total increase to faculty is 19%. However, faculty categories are reported separately to make permanent, recurring costs visible. Significant reductions to our non-tenure-track workforce beginning in 2023-24 reflect the reality that temporary faculty work exists in proportion to demand.

Our $17M structural deficit thus requires a reduction to our permanent workforce, both to right-size operations to be commensurate with enrollment and to consequently solve for the problem of recurring expenses greatly outstripping recurring revenues. 

For an overview of the systemwide efforts related to the º£½ÇÉçÇø' Sustainable Financial Model, view the and .