Interim president Curtis McCray originally began his journey at Wright State University to conduct an independent assessment of the university to give to the presidential candidates.
“I was surprised and disappointed to find the university had problems,” McCray said. “I gave my view to the candidates, and the report I gave was not glowing. This problem can be resolved with a lot of energy and a lot of care, but it isn’t going to be easy. It’s going to be a tough presidency.”
While gathering the report is where McCray discovered financial problems within the university.
“I discovered, yes in fact, there was a growing deficit. So large, the deficit would catch the attention of officials in Columbus,” McCray said.
According to McCray, the current budgetary crisis is largely due to lack of action being taken for the last five years.
The $30 million deficit is almost 10 percent of the university’s total budget of $350 million.
Questions have arisen as to the $30 million in reductions that will be acted upon immediately, and how the aggressive nature of these cuts will affect the university.
“I’m also aware that Columbus is watching us. I think they [the board of trustees] are eager to get this cleaned up as rapidly as possible. But I agree, this is aggressive. But it was left untouched for at least 5 years,” McCray said.
