Budget FAQs

Administrative Reorganization

• The Division of Regional Development and Engagement will merge with the Division of University Advancement. The Division of Academic Affairs will merge with the Division of Student Affairs. These mergers will eliminate two vice president positions and will occur in late spring.

• Will we have difficulties requiring an administrator to be responsible over two divisions?
  • This model is a common structure for comprehensive universities of our size.
  • Other institutions, including USM, that have a joint division for Academic and Student Affairs includes NC State, Florida International University, University of North Florida, Saginaw Valley State University, Texas A&M-Central Texas, UMB, and UBalt to name a few.

• With divisions merging, who will each division report to?
  • Each newly merged division will report to the vice president for Regional Development and Engagement and University Advancement and the vice president for Academic and Student Affairs, respectively. Which two individuals currently in vice president positions will be eliminated hasn’t been determined yet. It is likely that the part of each new division in which the newly appointed vice president has less background and experience will be overseen by an individual with expertise and experience in those areas, reporting to the vice president. It is expected that individual will be someone already involved and familiar with those aspects of the newly merged division.
  • In the short term – the new division of Academic and Student Affairs will report to the Interim Provost. In the long term – a search will be done for the permanent vice president for Academic and Student Affairs. The position will be open to individuals with either an academic or student affairs background.
  • FSU currently has an acting Provost. Leadership is in the process of working with the Registry and reviewing applicants for the position of Interim Provost. It is anticipated that the Interim Provost will be in-place sometime in September.
  • FSU informed the Registry, and each of the candidates screened for the Interim Provost position with the FSU budget plan and told them that we needed to hire a person to help us work through the plan during the upcoming year. The Registry provides FSU with a list of candidates with senior academic administrative experience who are typically former presidents or vice presidents, former chancellors or vice chancellors, or former provosts. FSU expects to conduct a search for a permanent provost once implementation of the budget plan is well underway, likely in 12-18 months.
  • The Registry has provided FSU with a list of 6 candidates who are interested in the position. Ron and Al have screened and interviewed some of those candidates. Two have dropped out to take other positions. By the end of August, leaders of the campus community will have an opportunity to meet with the candidate or candidates selected as finalists and provide input and perspective. Input will be received from the following campus leadership groups: Faculty Senate Steering Committee, Academic Affairs and Student Affairs direct reports, vice presidents, the Executive Cabinet and the deans during virtual interviews. Based on the input provided, the preferred candidate identified will be invited to campus (hopefully in September).

• If hired from outside FSU, how will the new vice president for Academic and Student Affairs have institutional knowledge to make informed decisions?
  • Any time a candidate is hired into a new position from outside an organization, there is a learning curve until they become more familiar with the institution. It will depend on other staffing positions as to whether internal people have the necessary skills for a particular job. A preference is always placed on hiring internally when possible.

• Who is the final authority on these new hires’ efficiency decisions – USM, the president or other governance?
  • The new vice presidents of the combined divisions will be decided by the president. As with all vice president positions, the president will also monitor and evaluate their performance.

• Is this strictly a division merger and all employees in the divisions affected move forward with their jobs as is or will there be reorganization of current staff and tasks?
  • Led predominantly by the new division vice presidents, leadership will continue to look for additional efficiencies in the combination of roles and responsibilities within the new divisions. Whether there will be additional reorganization of current employees and tasks will be determined as we go through the process.
  • If staff efficiencies are identified in the mergers, staff will receive at least the standard 90-day notice if a position is being eliminated. There are currently no plans in place or positions identified for restructuring or elimination.

• Who and how will these changes be evaluated so that decisions to continue or abandon can be determined?
  • Each divisional vice president and leadership within the divisions will be responsible for evaluating the components of the budget plan to determine if the changes make sense or should be amended moving forward. USM will also be closely monitoring and evaluating the success of FSU’s plan implementation.

• Since Regional Development and Engagement is externally funded, explain how savings are being realized by that consolidation.
  • Regional Development is funded by the state and through grant and contract funds, all of which are restricted for specific purposes. However, the state funding does not dictate that the money must be used for a vice president position or any specific role, so long as the funds are used for regional development and engagement.  Therefore, by merging this division with University Advance, FSU is saving money from one vice president position. If Regional Development is the division without a vice president, the person in charge of managing the projects under that umbrella will not have a vice president position or salary. Those savings can be used in other ways within the new division.

• Will the results and recommendations from the coordinator study committee chaired by Dr. Keller be considered in the restructuring to have fewer department chairs and coordinators who will be responsible for groups of like disciplines and functions?
  • The report will be used in helping to determine how and how much restructuring is necessary among chairs and coordinators.

• How does the reorganization of the deans’ offices save money?
  • The restructuring of the deans’ offices is not designed to save money and is not expected to do so. Deans’ offices will be reorganized across all three colleges with 2 assistant deans assigned per college. Each assistant dean will serve in an administrative capacity half-time and in a teaching capacity the other half-time.
  • Given the college realignment structure, this will allow for a more comprehensive representation of disciplines – not necessarily a cost savings. 
    
    

Retrenchment – Process, Committee, Timeline

• FSU has experienced an overall reduction in FTE enrollments of 36% since FY2010 while, during the same period, the number of FTE faculty has only been reduced by 14%. Retrenchment will address this imbalance.
• FSU has been limited to 2% tuition increases and allocations from the state have not kept pace with cost increases. The 2% increases have also not occurred every year (i.e. COVID) – during the same time, personnel costs have increased significantly and have not been covered by tuition.

• Were furloughs considered as an alternative to retrenchment?
  • Furloughs are a temporary solution to overcome temporary or transitory budget challenges. FSU has a structural deficit of nearly $7.7 million. Furloughs would have only been a temporary fix for budget issues and without a permanent budget fix, the University would have faced the same financial dilemmas next year and for the next several years, at least. Leadership would have still needed to find a way to create a permanent fix to the structural deficit.
  • Leadership had many conversations with the Attorney General’s office regarding furloughs, but it was determined that it wouldn’t have made sense to institute furloughs on the faculty side in lieu of retrenchment.

• When enrollment is better, can we be assured that tenure-track positions will return rather than adjuncts?
  • FSU is operating under a model of having 70-75% tenure or tenure-track faculty in a department or program with the remaining 25-30% being contractual employees. As FSU adds faculty, these percentages will need to be examined on a case-by-case basis. Retrenchment is also a result of not having the cushion afforded by these percentages.

• Will there be buyouts for senior faculty and staff who voluntarily leave? Were retirements forecasted into projections?
  • Opportunities for buyouts, early retirement or voluntary separation are all part of the retrenchment policy. The transitional terminal leave that was highlighted this past academic year is always on the table – it is a permanent policy of the BOR that is triggered by a faculty member coming forth with a proposal. If FSU receives proposals that are accepted, the target number of faculty needing to be retrenched could be reduced.
  • FSU provides buyouts, not USM. Currently, FSU has not put forth any buyout proposals. It may be more advantageous for faculty to submit a proposal for transitional terminal leave, rather than respond to any buyout proposal that may be put forward by the University.

• Will departing faculty factor into the 30 positions needed to close the gap?
  • The goal of retrenchment is to improve productivity and save money. The target number of reducing faculty by 30 in the first round was arrived at assuming that non-tenured faculty makes approximately $100,000 in total compensation a year, and FSU wants to achieve $3 million in savings from the first round of retrenchment. This number could be a few more or less than 30 depending on other factors (i.e. cost savings).
  • If a highly productive faculty member opts to leave on their own, they may still need to be replaced, which would negate the benefits of them leaving towards lowering the retrenchment target.

• Regarding the 2-year cutoff in the initial round of retrenchment, will years of credit towards tenure that were given during negotiations count towards this cutoff?
  • It is the years of actual service, whether tenure or tenure-track, to FSU that count towards the seniority in each department. The two-year cutoff begins as of fall 2024.

• Will retrenchment be limited to faculty positions or are staff positions being included?
  • Retrenchment, by definition, means the termination of a faculty appointment. It does not include staff.
  • In some programs, higher-level core courses will have fewer students because those programs rely on other departments to teach basic courses. This is yet another reason why retrenchment is done by department. The value of what a particular faculty member brings to the University is what needs to be evaluated by the retrenchment committee and the committee must understand the nuances across departments.

• Does faculty rank have any effect on the order of termination? Do annual evaluations, performance or achievement play any role in the termination order?
  • In most (but not all) cases, faculty rank is based on years of service to the university, and it is by department. Status as a tenured or tenure-track faculty, and years of service to the University are some of the key factors in determining faculty retrenchment order. Faculty rank, per se, is not a factor, though in most (but not all) cases faculty rank is closely associated with years of service to the University. It is up to the retrenchment committee to determine the value of annual evaluations, performance reviews and achievement in defining faculty productivity and efficiency in the termination order.
  • The retrenchment process is very prescriptive, and it is ultimately based on productivity for dollar savings and based on seniority within a department. An exception to the seniority order of retrenchment can occur if a senior faculty member does not have the expertise to teach a program that is highly productive and that is being taught by a more junior faculty member, then the retrenchment committee can opt to recommend retrenching the more senior faculty member.
  • Productivity and savings are things that the retrenchment planning committee will need to examine. Productivity is measured beyond just learning outcomes – number of students being taught, student credit hours, etc. will be looked at to determine productivity. The retrenchment committee will also account for non-teaching components of productivity, such as research, publications or outreach.
  • The target to reduce the number of faculty positions by 30 in the initial reduction will include Full- and Part-Time Non-Tenure Track faculty, adjunct faculty, and tenure-track faculty with less than 2 years of service. By the start of the Spring 2026 semester, we have a target to reduce faculty by an additional 15 positions, which may include tenure-track and tenured faculty with more than 2 years of service.
  • The reason for the two-tiered timing of position retrenchment (and associated savings) is due to the policy-prescribed difference in appointment termination notification periods required for different types and service levels of faculty. (e.g. - A faculty member with less than 2-years of service requires a shorter notification period than a faculty member with more than 2-years of service.)

• Will tenured faculty still be able to apply for promotion, having met all the criteria?
  • Yes.

• Are courses or majors with low enrollment being evaluated and adjustments being made?
  • We are constantly evaluating courses and majors with low enrollment across the University. Department chairs have been part of training sessions with Helio Campus, a tool which allows us to look at data on students and faculty and productivity in myriad ways, which will all be points of data that the retrenchment committee will use to make their recommendations.

• Do you intend to eliminate any programs or entire departments?
  • Currently, there is no plan to eliminate any programs, majors or departments; however, if the retrenchment committee recommends that, after reviewing the data, this should occur, that recommendation will be evaluated by the president to make the final decisions.
  • Departments need to have a chance to reconfigure themselves if they are not meeting workforce demand, but it will be a tight timeline to do so.
  • We do need to increase the size of our classes – there has been a significant increase in classes with fewer than 10 students. That inefficiency needs to be addressed.
  • There may be departments that can’t and shouldn’t be reduced; however, there are departments throughout the University where reductions can and will be made.
  • All accrediting bodies across the University should be reviewed to determine whether the cost of receiving that accreditation merits the expense to get that accreditation.
  • If any degree programs are discontinued, FSU is obligated (by our University accrediting body, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education) to provide a teach out so that students can complete their degrees.

• If a faculty member has completed two years on the tenure track and is starting on their third year on the tenure track, are they eligible for retrenchment?
  • All faculty are eligible for retrenchment. There are different notification periods for faculty depending on their years of service – not their length of tenure or tenure-track.

• Who will be on the retrenchment committee, and how will those people be chosen?
  • FSU’s retrenchment policy is defined in the Faculty Handbook.
  • The president has requested that the Faculty Senate chair hold at-large elections to elect a tenured faculty member and a tenure-track faculty member to the Retrenchment Plan Committee.
  • The president will appoint three tenured faculty to the committee.
  • The committee will also include the elected Faculty Senate Chair, the dean of each college, the provost, and a budget officer appointed by the president (nonvoting).

• When will we have decisions on who is being retrenched?
  • The plan that the retrenchment committee is recommending will be received late this fall. The president will take just over 30 days to review that plan and accept and/or adjust that plan. Notifications will occur immediately after the president has finalized the plan.
  • Notification periods range from 4 months to one year, depending on individual faculty member’s years of service to FSU.

• How does the Academic Program Review Committee fit into the retrenchment committee’s task?
  • This committee is separate from retrenchment. The Academic Program Review committee is designed to be long-term rather than short term. They are working on coming up with metrics to evaluate academic programs. FSU may need to invest in growing departments.
  • FSU has many ways of evaluating academic programs – MHEC requirements, discipline-based accreditation requirements, student learning outcomes. There is not an annual process that helps to evaluate academic programs.

• What considerations are being given to faculty and staff who likely know they will be affected by the change. This will impact morale, relationships, and more. Are there plans by FSU and/or USM to actively support their careers?
  • Retrenchment will not impact staff. Staff have been impacted over the last several years and FSU is currently operating with as little staff as we are able. We have thought about the type of support we can provide. As part of the retrenchment policy, there are recall expectations to allow a retrenched faculty member, for up to three years, the opportunity to come back to FSU to teach if enrollment in the department they were terminated from increases - and we hope that happens. That faculty member will also have rights to take up positions at other USM schools that they are qualified to fill.
  • We are also planning to provide career support and advice to those faculty members who will lose their positions. When we know the specifics of the retrenchment plan, we will be able to identify the best targeted career help we can provide to those faculty.

• The retrenchment committee will make the determination on who has the expertise to teach classes (senior faculty vs. junior faculty) and what constitutes productivity. All decisions ultimately lie with the president. Department chairs will also be able to explain how the loss of a particular faculty member would affect students and the department.
• If enrollment increases, FSU will bring faculty back. The retrenchment policy requires FSU to give faculty that was retrenched the first opportunity to come back to similar positions both at FSU and at other USM institutions.
• Even with retrenchment, depending on departmental needs, FSU will have to evaluate where we stand in terms of the number of faculty necessary.
  
  

Enrollment

• How can we hope to build our student numbers up if we are scaling our faculty back to a number that is more appropriate for 3,000 students? How will program enrollments and general education needs be considered when making cuts? Explain the 16:1 ratio.
  • FSU’s target is to get the student to faculty ratio to 16:1 versus the current ratio of less than 13:1, which translates into 195 Student Credit Hours or 65 undergraduate students taught in a particular semester. Part of what the retrenchment committee will examine is how program enrollments and general education needs are considered in determining how faculty cuts are made at the departmental level.
  • The 16:1 ratio will allow FSU to be financially sustainable and is our target based on the budget model and is consistent with FSU's ratio several years back. FSU faculty have exceeded the 16:1 ratio in the past.
  • Studt to faculty ratios (SFR) are not related to faculty workload as defined in the Faculty Handbook. The SFR is based on Student Credit Hours (SCH) for students, and for faculty it is based on their appointment (full-time (1 FTE) or proportionally if part-time, i.e. teaching one course in a semester would be a .25 FTE).
  • One important note is that externally-funded reassigned or release time (often through federal grants) reduces the faculty FTE. For example, "buying out" one course per semester with external funds would reduce the faculty FTE to .75. Therefore, the reassigned time for research, chair or coordinator responsibilities funded internally does not reduce the faculty FTE.
  • In terms of SCH, a full-time equivalent (FTE) undergraduate would take 15 credits in a semester and an FTE graduate student would take 9 graduate student credits.
  • To calculate a 16:1 ratio for a semester, the 1 FTE faculty member would account for 16 times 15 SCH (1 student FTE) or 240 SCH. Assuming the faculty member is teching 3-credit classes exclusively, the 240 SCH would translate inot an enrollment of 80 students (headcount) for that semester. The ratio is independent of courses taught. So, two classes of 40 students each would be equivalent to four classes of 20 students. The same calculations can be applied with adjustments if the faculty member is teaching graduate courses. 
  • Just because a college meets the 16:1 ratio doesn’t mean that every department within that college meets that ratio and is being optimally productive. Therefore, if overall an entire college achieves the 16:1 ratio does not make faculty within a particular department in that college who does not achieve that ratio exempt from retrenchment.
  • The 16:1 ratio is a University target. We cannot assume every department or faculty member will be exactly at 16:1. Some courses and disciplines often exceed the target ratio while others do not.
  • The Higher Education Consortia (HEC) has collected SCH data for many years by type of institution as well as academic discipline (CIP codes). As a member of HEC for several years, we have historic data on SCH by departments at FSU to provide departmental guidance. 
  • 24 credits are a full, annual teaching load for faculty. An undergraduate student generates 15 credits a semester or 30 for the year. Graduate students are expected to take 24 credit hours during the year. Workload expectations for faculty will not change.

• What is FSU’s enrollment plan over the next several years?
  • FSU has a very robust Strategic Enrollment Management plan in place. FSU expects to see a slight increase in enrollment this fall (100 students). We anticipate an enrollment increase next year of an additional 300 students.
  • Every 100 students equate to net revenue of $1 million to FSU.
  • Admissions has become more robust in targeting local high school graduates and community college transfer students. Locally, only about 2/3 of high school graduates go on to college. Downstate, that rate is more than 75%. FSU does more overall marketing downstate, one reason is that there are more high school graduates in those areas than there are in our local region. However, we do need to do a better job of reaching out to students in our own backyard, which we are doing, but also recruit students downstate – where the numbers are.

• How will we predict future enrollments and plan for them in advance? Do the students exist?
  • We are partnering with a national company (EAB) to target specific programs and disciplines to plan for future enrollment increases, including non-traditional, online students, and international students. We are being very strategic on where we look for future enrollment. Students do exist - we just need to get a bigger share of that population by competing more actively than we did in the past. FSU needs to be distinctive. If we don’t get the enrollments, we will have to make future adjustments.

• Is there anything faculty can do to help increase enrollment and reduce the number of faculty being retrenched?
  • In the short-term (this fiscal year), there isn’t anything that can be done to reduce the number of faculty being retrenched because it is a cost-saving measure. Faculty needs to be more like athletic coaches by recruiting students to their program or discipline.

• How will admissions be held accountable for enrollment?
  • We are creating a sub-cabinet level work group to include Marketing and Communications, Admissions, Billing, Financial Aid, which are all student-facing departments, that need to work seamlessly together and with other campus departments to improve coordination and communication among these units. A coordinator will be named to oversee this group shortly.
  • The budgets for Admissions and Marketing have been increased substantially (both departments’ operating budgets have more than doubled) to devote considerably more effort to support diversified enrollment initiatives – to highlight distinctive academic programs, promote online graduate programs, provide engaging on-campus experiences, including Division II Athletics and high-quality student services.

• Has FSU examined how student engagement and the overall campus experience has affected enrollment?
  • Yes, and leadership is making concerted efforts to loop SGA into this conversation to see what FSU can do for students that would improve the quality of their experience outside of the classroom.
  • Retention numbers have decreased over the years, and we need to improve all the factors that go into retaining and supporting our students. FAFSA has had a significant negative impact on FSU recently.
  • FSU will have funds coming in to support peer mentors this year because our need outweighs our resources.

• To what extent has the state’s dual enrollment policies benefitted community college enrollment but hurt four-year school enrollment?
  • FSU has seen an uptick in transfer students. Many students are choosing to stay closer to home to attend college – community college – and then transferring to a four-year institution for the last few years.
  • FSU has not had a very robust dual enrollment plan until recently. The new Bobcat Academy has proved to be successful. FSU is expanding to other regional high schools.

• How has the closure of Brownsville since Spring 2023 impacted enrollment?
  • Brownsville being closed has impacted enrollment because it is FSU’s premier residence hall.
  • All the repairs to the building are expected to be done in time to open next fall of 2025. Once students are back in the building, it will once again generate revenue for FSU as well as increase enrollment, which will allow FSU to begin to make the payments on the bond that is outstanding for Brownsville.
  • Because of the size of FSU, any time there is construction/renovation that exceeds $1 million, the work must be managed by the service center at College Park per Board of Regent’s policy and USM requirements. Brownsville exceeded that amount, so FSU’s role and responsibility is limited because the project is required to be managed elsewhere.
  • Student Affairs has been regularly updated on the status of Brownsville.

• Do the Brownsville Hall plans include restitution to the students whose belongings were damaged or destroyed in the flood?
  • Any student who experienced damages because of the flooding has already had their items replaced.

• Expenditure cuts seem inevitable at this point. What is this plan to increase revenue with additional enrollment?
  • FSU instituted a Strategic Enrollment Plan two years which is beginning to be implemented. We are seeing the impacts of that implementation as we expect to have an increase of 100 students this fall. We have stopped our enrollment decline and saw modest increases in enrollment last year and expect that upward trajectory to continue. We are focusing on areas where there is going to be growth in enrollment, such as online programming and our BSN program.
  • USM very interested in our Strategic Enrollment Plan. We meet with them on a quarterly basis to go through the details and progress of the plan so that they can monitor to see that we are reaching our milestones. USM is very pleased with our progress to date.

• The Baltimore/Washington area is among the best employment and think-tank areas of the country. As part of the enrollment development plans, are there strategies to engage federal agencies and major private companies very aggressively for internships, operating centers of excellence, and so forth where these organizations to tap into the knowledge pipeline coming out of Frostburg?
  • We have had mixed success so far engaging federal agencies or major private companies for internships, mostly because proximity is an issue. Our computer science department has had great success, largely with intelligence agencies and think tanks in those areas. We have had the same success in other federal agencies and labs, but not as much as we would like. If any of our alumni have those contacts or affiliations, please let us know, so that you can help to make those connections and opportunities available for our students.

Staff-Related Questions

• With the current downward trend of diversity of vice presidents and staff, how will FSU seek to balance fiscal priorities while being conscious of the lack of diversity in staff at FSU?
  • FSU will very aggressively recruit additional people to come into open positions that have diverse backgrounds. Four vice presidents are being affected by the downsizing and division mergers, and the only vice president that is part of a minority population has announced his retirement. Moving forward FSU will need to recruit and attract candidates who meet our diversity goals.

• Will staff still teach ORIE courses or depending on the productivity of faculty, will all ORIE courses be taught by faculty?
  • Those decisions have not been made and will be reviewed by Academic Affairs and the retrenchment committee.

• Is there funding for travel for staff professional development?
  • Professional development extends well beyond just travel, and money for these types of things are a function of division supervisors. Professional development is not being limited; travel is being restricted. There are numerous opportunities for virtual professional development.

• To what extent is FSU’s financial aid office back to normal in terms of staffing, software and expertise?
  • FSU hired a director of financial aid and an assistant director of financial aid to get that office back on the right track, and staff has worked tirelessly on the reimplementation of Peoplesoft.
  • Staff continues to work through the difficulties with the rollout of the new FAFSA.
  • Despite the additional external challenges piled on to the office of financial aid, the office is “back to normal” but additional improvements are always possible and expected.  

• As divisions are combined, how are years of service for staff calculated for bumping rights?
  • There are no plans for layoffs at the staff level. The only reductions in staff will come in the faculty ranks.
  • Any staff reductions that may occur in any of FSU’s divisions will occur due to determinations by the division leadership that staffing/position needs have changed, not as a direct result of the current budget plan. 

• Could details about Athletics costs be shared and are teams being cut?
  • Details about athletics cost can be shared with anyone who asks for specific information. No teams are being cut, but rosters may be reduced or adjusted.
  • A survey was conducted this year of all athletes, and 73.94% said that they would NOT be at FSU if it were not for the sport they were playing. Of course, Student athletes also want to be in programs that FSU offers (Ex. Nursing).
  • Extrapolating from that percentage, FSU athletic teams account for more than 500 students (or more than $5 million in net revenue) to the University annually. Elimination of teams would result in net losses in revenue to FSU.

• What are the reasons for moving from D3 to D2?
  • FSU and Bowie are the only two D2 schools in Maryland. It was found that many Maryland athletes were going to West Virginia, Virginia and Pennsylvania to play their sport. Moving to D2 was thought to (and has proven to be) a way to increase enrollment of student-athletes.
  • Salisbury is the only D3 school left in Maryland now and they participate in the Coast-to-Coast Conference. This conference required them to compete with teams across the country, which is expensive - more expensive than the travel to compete in our current D2 conference.
  • Most of the athletic events that our teams go to that are very far away are actually paid for through the foundation or by athlete-fundraising.
  • Our athletics department is putting together plans to reduce travel costs by several hundred thousand dollars a year to be more efficient in how we transport athletes to sporting events.
  • Roster increases have helped to defray the loss of enrollment, which would have been higher if we wouldn’t have increased the number of athletes. FSU, however, does not want to over rely on athletics. We need non-athlete students here as well.
  • The NCAA collects data that allows FSU to compare our spending with other schools in our conference, other D2 schools and other public institutions we compete against. FSU is not at all extravagant in our spending. We offer 22 teams, where the average in the MEC is 17 teams. USM uses these same benchmarks for all schools in the system.

• What is the athletics budget?
  • The athletics budget is just shy of $5.7 million annually and was cut by $883,000 this year. That $5.7 million brings to FSU more than 700 students, more than 500 who have said they would not be at FSU if it were not for the sport in which they compete.

• What is the reason that $1 million for scholarships was moved from athletics to academic departments?
  • FSU is meeting or exceeding all the academic success requirements for D2. Except for one other small cohort of students on campus, the best academically performing cohort is student athletes.
  • Leadership heard from the faculty, who indicated that if they had use of scholarship money, they, too, would be able to increase enrollment in their respective programs. As a result, we will reallocate $1 million in scholarships that had previously been used by athletics to select academic disciplines. Beginning this fall, all academic disciplines will have an opportunity to submit proposals for the use of the funds for recruiting. Awards to selected proposals will be based on realistic and measurable projected increases in program/major enrollments, in support of our SEM plan. Annual accountability for meeting goals (including retention rates and academic performance), and thus continuing scholarship awards, will be required.
    
    

• Besides contributing financially is there any role that alumni can play to assist the University in this effort?
  • Yes. Both alumni and Advancement Board of Directors can help in a particular way. FSU is currently developing a strategy for going to Annapolis. FSU is the lowest funded institution in USM, whether it is calculated by student or by institution, and that needs to change, politically. We need to make a case to prove that there is a reason to increase the funding for FSU now. We are doing our part by putting together this budget plan. It is important to note that we are not proposing that funding be taken away from someone else to help FSU, only that we are very deserving of more funding. This will be an incredibly difficult year to make this argument, because the State’s budget has a substantial deficit, and in FY26 and FY27 that could be upwards of $3 billion. We think we can make our argument, but we need help from our alumni and friends of the University to talk to their contacts, friends, representatives, etc., to make the case for increased funding for FSU. We will even provide some helpful talking points.
  • If you have high school age children or grandchildren or neighbors, please talk to them about applying to FSU and about the quality of the education that they will receive here. You can also introduce your children to FSU by attending an athletic event, an arts performance, or a STEM program.
  • The FSU alumni webpage has a section where you can update your information to tell us about your career so that we can in turn share alumni success stories with prospective students.
  • We encourage you to post positive comments about your FSU experience on social media and tag #PROUDFSUBOBCAT.
  • In addition to increasing enrollment, we also need to retain current students. Perhaps you can become a mentor for our students or provide them with meaningful internships.
  • Alumni can also help our graduates find jobs.
  • The FSU Foundation has also been helping the University by offering scholarships, and this year they offered over $1.4 million in scholarships.

Other

• Doesn’t FSU have a $20 million “rainy day” fund that could be tapped?
  • FSU has roughly $20 million in the fund balance, and FSU needs to get permission from USM to use these funds. FSU is required to contribute to the fund balance each year.
  • Funds have been used to pay for a contractor to aid in strategic enrollment management.
  • If FSU were to use fund balance to resolve structural budget deficits, that $20 million would last less than 3 years before it was gone – if USM would even give FSU permission to do that. If FSU were to have used fund balance to close the $7.7 million structural budget this year, we would have to do the same thing next year because we would have done nothing to reduce the structural deficit. So, we’d have to do again in FY26 - next year. And again, in FY27…except we wouldn’t have enough left in fund balance in FY 27 to close the structural deficit then.
  • Fund balance is considered to close small or temporary budget gaps, not to close a $7.7 million structural deficit.

• Are any other USM institutions facing budget problems similar in severity to FSU, and what are the unique factors that put FSU in this position?
  • Higher education, nationally, has experienced enrollment issues over the years because of both COVID and overall demographic trends that are dampening the number of high school graduates. FSU’s leadership has been very entrepreneurial to fight against these trends of declining enrollment as well as cutting costs.
  • Several other universities in USM are also facing these national trends and challenges with enrollment – Frostburg is not unique. FSU has done a great job of trying a lot of things to increase enrollment and retention, including making the move from D3 to D2 athletics.
  • USM is working with several universities to increase enrollment and to bring expenses in line with the reality of decreased budgets.
  • USM fully supports FSU’s plan to eliminate the budget deficit.
  • Visit usmd.edu/iris to find a wealth of information on enrollment and enrollment trends on all the schools in USM. These numbers will be updated after they are presented to the BOR.

• What is our current occupancy rate on campus for student housing?
  • FSU’s current occupancy rate for residence halls on campus that are open is 96%, which also factors in those rooms that were converted to singles. Sowers is currently at more than 70% occupancy, but that is expected to be above 90% by the fall.
  • There are currently 979 applications for residence halls. At one time, FSU could house approximately 1,600 students.

• How will professional development be evaluated given the lack of travel funds?
  • Travel is only one factor that contributes to professional development, and we would recommend that faculty and staff look at other components beyond travel. There are many opportunities for virtual professional development. However, if travel is required for professional development, grant-funded and external contract-funded travel is not being restricted.  So, faculty and staff should investigate and secure grant and contract opportunities that may include travel funds, rather than just relying on a state-funded travel budgets. The deans are aware and on top of this issue. This is another reason why having a structural surplus is so important.
  • Just as a point of clarification – the travel that is being restricted is state-funded and auxiliary funded-travel. Essential travel is a subjective determination that will be made by direct supervisors with approval from deans, divisional vice presidents or the president.

• What will happen to the buildings on campus that are closed? Will they ever reopen and is there a significant cost to bringing a building back online?
  • FSU has a new EHSC and a lot of unused or unnecessary space on campus now. Aging buildings are expensive to maintain, so the closure of them is more cost effective. Buildings that are closing include Guild and Old Main. Cambridge has been closed for some time, and we are constantly evaluating low-occupancy buildings for possible closure. Building that are closed aren’t completely shut down, with all the systems turned off, so bringing them back to the same condition when they closed would be minimally expensive.
  • There are currently no plans to reopen these buildings, though discussions and exploration of a variety of options to re-open closed buildings and put them to alternative uses, or perhaps raze them to create additional green space, are ongoing. Staff will begin to determine if specific buildings should be torn down so money can be used to maintain and invest in other buildings we do need.
  • When Brownsville reopens that will add an additional 400 beds.

• With centralized marketing, does that mean that staff who do marketing in other departments will be reassigned to this centralized marketing area? Where are we with the branding plan?
  • The work that marketing staff does for other departments needs to be coordinated with the University Marketing department because too many uncoordinated marketing efforts have been undertaken and they have not been aligned and consistent with the overall look and feel of FSU’s logo, brand, colors, etc. Our University Marketing department will be able to provide suggestions and insight into what other departments are doing to ensure that the message and brand is consistent and a good use of marketing funds.
  • FSU is proceeding with rolling out the branding plan.

• Can you share the plan for the presidency and how that might address budget needs?
  • Currently FSU has an acting president (Al Delia) and a president (Ron Nowaczyk) who has been dealing with some medical issues. Dr. Nowaczyk expects to be back full-time soon with a transitional period of work being done by both he and Al. Al will stay involved through at least the initial implementation of the budget plan.  

• How do travel restrictions impact van and carpool use?
  • Vans are often used for classes and undergraduate/graduate research projects. Many classes make frequent use of vans to access sites, with some classes being entirely reliant on field trips to meet their educational objectives and experiential learning is central to these programs. FSU certainly does not want to alter or stop this kind of valuable field learning experiences for students in certain programs and will work with deans and the provost to determine how to fund this. Individual class plans for these kinds of learning experiences should not be altered at this time.  

• Has there been consideration made for salary caps in positions already making over $150,000 - $200,000?
  • The marketplace is the primary driver in determining salary levels for those (or any) positions. If we were to make that kind of a move – artificially capping salaries at a level significantly below the market rate - it would be very detrimental to the level of skilled and experienced employees we could attract.
  • As an extreme example, if we eliminated every senior administrator at FSU, we would only be able to reduce our structural deficit by about $2 million. We would still have a problem and have no administrative leadership to run the University.

• Would you describe other civic institutions, like fire departments, as businesses?
  • FSU must “function” as a business, much like any fire department must function as a business. If the fire department does not have enough funds to pay for its operations, changes must be made to continue to deliver on its mission. Similarly, a university must be able to generate enough revenue to be able to pay for the services it provides to students. If revenues are not sufficient to meet expenses, adjustments must be made.

• In the analysis of this situation, what factors within our control contributed to FSU’s financial standing?
  • FSU leadership has heard loud and clear that faculty want more transparency, better communication and more openness. We have done that. From the availability of information to answering questions has increased and improved dramatically, and we will continue to do that. We held a series of campus wide meetings on a wide variety of topics, including the budget, to ensure that the campus community was aware of what was going on in Maryland and at FSU. That is a double edge sword, though, because that level of transparency makes people anxious about what is likely coming but also keeps them informed about kinds of challenges we’re facing. Management’s plan remains the same as they have already been engaged in Strategic Enrollment Management and in discussions regarding reorganization and faculty reductions to provide more open and transparent information to faculty, staff and students and gather their input on issues.

• How has the plan for the University’s management changed because of the issues raised by faculty?
  • FSU does bear some responsibility for the current financial situation. Historically, enrollment challenges were dealt with while we were facing them – some going back several years - by cutting costs that tried to hold the academic (faculty) portion of the University harmless. Eliminating staff in Administration and Finance, and other divisions of the University has been an almost routine occurrence for several years.
  • FSU, as many institutions of higher education across the country, was hopeful that after they were “over the hump”, things would go back to normal operations, but unfortunately that has never happened. And it is not going to happen. There is a new normal and a new reality. We must accept and adjust to it.
  • The state of Maryland’s financial challenges has exacerbated FSU’s financial challenges. Our state appropriations have not kept pace with the unfunded mandates placed on FSU.

• What guarantees, if any, have the USM made about the long-term future of Frostburg State University as an independent institution?
  • This topic hasn’t come up for discussion, formally or informally, with any of the Regents or USM administration. There have been several conversations with senior USM officials who have assured us that no matter what happens, FSU will remain a state university in western Maryland. There is no chance that the legislature will close FSU, and that is a political reality. FSU’s funding may look different if we don’t follow through on our plan, but the existence of FSU is not in question whatsoever. Proof of USM’s commitment to FSU comes in the form of the special exemptions they have given us on required payments. USM will hold us accountable for the implementation of our budget plan and will help us succeed any way they can.
  • There have also been no discussions on mergers, which typically occurs between institutions that are very close geographically. FSU is the only institution west of beltway, which makes us unique in many ways.
  • We think that USM and the legislature view FSU as a change agent for economic development for the region, looking for us to expand in certain areas to encourage greater regional economic development.

• Has the University looked at the lack of significant local employers impacting the recruitment of academic students? Many students now, want to begin working in their areas of degree while getting a degree. Is there a future effort to look at degrees meeting needs in business?
  • FSU is doing more as an institution with the surrounding community. For example, the Division of Regional Development and Engagement is working with major employers in the region including Northrop Grumman, IBM, and the Beitzel Corporation and will be hosting a roundtable discussion with them to talk about what are the skills and talents that they are looking for from FSU graduates and what it is that FSU needs from employers. The goal of this roundtable and these discussions is to help make connections between students and employers earlier in the process and much stronger and so that the transition from college to the work force is a seamless one.

• The lack of institutional knowledge among key leadership at FSU cannot be ignored. What is your plan to ensure FSU retains its identity with the loss of student-facing employees, like faculty?
  • FSU will retain its identity, but we are expanding beyond what we used to do. We have a program China in business and are adding the visual arts, which has been very well-received by Chinese students. We also hope to send our students to China in the future. FSU has been focusing on the changing needs of those in higher education, for example, adult learners.
  • Many students that come to FSU are often first-generation students and are interested in careers. FSU is ahead of the game regarding career preparation.
  • We are working to differentiate FSU from other institutions by identifying what do we do that other institutions cannot do.
  • The title of our budget plan is the Educational Market Alignment Plan, because FSU must realign what we do with what the educational market wants, which has changed. We need to make the necessary adjustments.
  • The retrenchment plan calls for the senior faculty to be the last to leave.
  • Dr. Nowaczyk is currently the second senior university in USM in his 9th year. Of the others, only one has come from within the institution – the others have come from outside.
  • Higher education is a very fluid environment. The average tenure of a university president is less than 6 years.
  • John Short is one of the more senior vice presidents for advancement in USM.
  • Troy Donoway has been with FSU for 3 years, and in that time, other institutions have already filtered through several vice presidents of administration and finance.
  • We must honor the history of FSU and understand the fabric. Alumni are one of the best sources of institutional knowledge. We are certain that our enrollment will go down if we try to be what FSU was 25 years ago. Today’s students and families have different needs and expectations, and we need to recognize that and adapt to those changing needs to be successful.

• What have conversations with local elected officials (city, county, state legislators) looked like about this ongoing budget crisis?
  • We provided information to senior elected officials in both the state and the region (Governor’s office, Senate president, Speaker of the House, ranking members of committees in the House and the Senate) before any campus wide announcement about our budget plan was released so that they had factual information.
  • We had the same briefing of our local delegation (Hinebaugh, McKay, Mayor of the City of Frostburg) so that everyone who needed to be engaged beforehand was. We will continue to have those necessary dialogues going forward.