Allyn Hall Mockup | Photo provided by Wright State University
On Friday, June 14, the Wright State Board of Trustees approved new amendments to their bylaws, a $255.5 million budget for the 2025 fiscal year and a $12.6 million capital plan for facilities improvements.
Amending the Bylaws
A little over a year ago, the Board of Trustees tasked National Trustee Douglas Fecher to review the board’s policies and bylaws, and create new bylaws for the board to vote on.
“It became quickly apparent that our bylaws, having been written at the founding of the university and added to multiple times over the years, had become unwieldy and difficult to use” Fecher said in the meeting on Friday.
The proposed bylaws are organized into seven articles. Each article covers a portion of the university’s operation.
Article I and Article II had the biggest changes. Article I governs the Board of Trustees, committees and meetings.
Changes to Article I include adding a treasurer as an officer of the board that will also serve as the chair of the finance committee, changing the duties of the secretary of the board, defining the members and duties of the executive committee, adding a compensation committee, creating new language to cover succession of board officers and adding bylaws detailing the board’s oversight of the financial performance of the university.
Article II governs the administrative organization of the university. The new changes include naming the Chief Administrative officers, expanding upon the language regarding the board’s authority over the president and requiring the president to submit a continuity of operations plan to the board.
Article III to VI were updated with new language, however, there were no material changes.
Article VII governs the bylaws themselves and university policies including how they are changed or amended, which had previously not been written down.
The board approved the proposed changes. The proposed bylaws can be found here.
Budget for fiscal year 2025
The board of trustees voted on and unanimously approved the fiscal year 2025 budget, which runs from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025.
In 2023, Wright State brought in $286.97 million in revenue and spent $265.26 million, leaving a $21.71 million change in total net assets.
The university expects unrestricted revenue to be around $253,791,043 million for the fiscal year. However, the university’s expenses are projected to be $255,454,928 million and is expected to use $1,663,885 million in reserves to cover the difference.
“We will work very diligently to move that 1.6 defect into either a zero or a positive fund balance by the end of the year,” a Financial Operations Team Member said in the meeting. “That is a result of the collective team in this room working together as we have been over the last few budget cycles.”
Wright State has built back up its reserves from $16.91 million in fiscal year 2017 to $141 million in fiscal year 2023.
The board also approved a three percent across the board raise for many employees effective July 1.
Capital Plan 2025-2026
According to the Ohio Revised Code 3345.51, Wright State University may administer capital facilities projects for the construction, reconstruction, improvement, renovation, enlargement, or alteration of a public improvement under its jurisdiction.
The board voted on and approved twelve projects for a total of $12.6 million.
Among those projects, $2.5 million will be spent on the Allyn Hall Hangar Beautification project. The university plans on turning portions of the reflecting pool in front of the building into planter beds, restoring other parts of the reflecting pool and building a stage to host outdoor events.
“The exterior of the hangar has become a campus icon for generations of students and employees,” Associate Vice President of Facility Operations Javan Conley said. “Currently, the reflecting pool is dry, the filter equipment providing the water has failed.”
The meeting agenda, including the approved budget and capital plan can be found here.
