CSCU seeks $69 million from state

State college, university system: Funds needed to cover shortfall

The University of Connecticut is not alone in asking the state for help in making ends meet during this year of COVID-19.

The Connecticut State College and University system, representing 17 public colleges and universities, needs $69 million in the current fiscal year to avoid dipping into reserves, system officials said on Monday.

In a letter to Gov. Ned Lamont, Board of Regents President Mark E. Ojakian said the system is in a dire financial situation because of enrollment declines, fewer residential students and unforeseen expenses, most related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Without additional state and federal funding, serious cuts threatening student-facing services and the long term viability of our institutions will have to be considered,” Ojakian said in his two-page letter.

The request comes a week after the University of Connecticut asked for a $104 million bailout to help stay afloat.

On Monday, Max Reiss, a Lamont spokesman, called the financial impact

of the COVID-19 pandemic real and significant.

“Gov. Lamont is taking seriously the economic fallout, presenting a deficit mitigation plan for state operations last week,” Reiss said. “The administration will continue to engage with all state agencies and institutions regarding their financial situations as a result of this pandemic.”

Later in his afternoon news briefing, Lamont said the CSCU system joins UConn and a whole other lot of entities in coming to the state looking for more support in a trying economic year.

“The money we got from the federal government from the CARES Act ... is specific to COVID expenses so it is not like I can just hand out federal money for broader purposes like backing up our universities.” Lamont said.

That said, he promised to do what he could to offer support.

The Board of Regents finance committee will meet on Wednesday, but the board was forewarned of the fiscal red ink last month.

In the fall of 2019, the system had a total head count of 79,098 students. This fall, preliminary, that number has dropped to 68,852,

Enrollment at the state’s four regional universities is said to be down 5.5 percent and dorms are barely at 50 percent at capacity; that has caused a $52.5 million shortfall, according to Ben Barnes, chief financial officer for the system.

At the state’s 12 community colleges, enrollment was down 15 percent, leading to a $16.5 million shortfall, he said.

On the other hand, the system’s Charter Oak State College, an online program, saw a 4 percent increase in students.

Ojakian said the system is not blindly asking for a bailout.

He blamed much of the shortfall on the pandemic, which shut campuses in the spring and forced the system to make room and board refunds. Ojakian said the system spent $45 million since March on COVID-19. A federal CARES Act relief payout only covered $33 million in relief funds.

This year, some students have returned to campuses but class and residence hall occupancy has been kept low. Many classes have been kept online or in some sort of hybrid fashion.

“There is a whole list of efforts being made internally,” Ojakian said.

A hiring freeze has been instituted. There was a 2 percent reduction in nonsalary budgets. Overtime expenses have been reduced and a cut was made in adjunct faculty.

The system, however, is prohibited by a 2017 labor agreement from laying off unionized staff or preventing $20 million in raises to go through.

Ojakian said furloughs are being considered but cannot be implemented without union concessions.

Last month, Barnes wrote to union leaders asking for help.

In response, Patricia O’Neill, president of the CSU-AAUP chapter and a professor at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury recommended the system should halt the Students First initiative that seeks to combine the state’s 12 community colleges into one.

The union went on to suggest nearly a dozen other ways the system should either increase revenue or cut costs.

Ojakian said the response did not seriously address the shortfall and said the merger of the community colleges, still under review by the accrediting body, will not be halted.

Without state help, the system will have to tap its $174 million cash reserves.

By achieving a balanced budget that way, Barnes said, university reserves could be cut by 40 percent and the community college reserve could be cut in half.

Even though reserves are kept for emergencies and the pandemic is an emergency, Barnes said they would be brought to a thin margin he described as “not responsible.”

“Financial viability is something accreditors look at seriously,” Barnes said, adding, “and no one knows how Fiscal Year 2022 will go.”

In addition to help with its deficit, the system is also asking the governor and legislature to fund PACT, a free college tuition program approved by the legislature but not funded. The Board of Regents started the program this fall using $3.3 million in reserve funds.

The Board of Regents was told last month that 3,147 students are taking advantage of the program which covers the gap between the federal and state grants and the cost of attending community college full time. To continue into the spring, Ojakian said the state will have to pick up the cost.