On Wednesday, Jan. 24, Wright State held a public forum to discuss issues including the university’s fiscal health, the FY18 budget, future financial projections and fiscal watch.
The forum, known as “Let’s Talk” is an initiative started by University President Cheryl Schrader that is intended to create an open public dialogue and to provide the community with information and perspective, according to the university website.
The panel featured Walt Branson, vice president for finance and operations/chief business officer; Tina Heigel, university controller; Doug Fecher, chair of the Board of Trustees and Schrader.
In preparation for the forum, the Wright State chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) organized a demonstration in protest of certain university proposals.
Issues raised by WSU-AAUP included: “no raises for this and the next two years; increased cost for health benefits; administrative control over changes in health insurance coverage […]; the possibility of furlough; nullification of workload agreements; [and] loss of job security for Tenure and Tenure-Eligible faculty,” according to Linda Hockaday, assistant director of Student Services.
The university as a whole has made significant steps toward overcoming its financial challenges, according to Schrader, including avoiding fiscal watch – which is the second most severe stage of a school’s financial condition.
“It is becoming more likely that we are not going on state fiscal watch,” she said. “With everyone’s continued efforts, we can be successful in avoiding fiscal watch altogether.”
