June 27, 2007 memo to core faculty from Carolyn Denham.
CdBdJune07
Carolyn Denham, Board Meeting Report, to
All Staff Group – 6/27/07
Recognizing both the importance of sustaining the College and the seriousness of its current financial situation, the Board of Trustees directed me to prepare three plans:
• Plan to Stabilize the College
The Plan to Stabilize the College is intended to be a temporary plan, giving us the opportunity to remain in operation as we work to develop a Plan to Sustain the College for the long term. A Plan to Stabilize the College is to be presented to Board committees in time for informed action by the Board at its fall 2007 meeting. The Board committees and the Board will review the academic and financial viability of the proposed Plan to Stabilize the College and determine whether and for how long we can operate under the proposed Plan to Stabilize the College.
• Plan to Sustain the College
The Plan to Sustain the College is to be presented to the Board following Board approval of the temporary Plan to Stabilize the College. We will need all of your best thinking to create a plan that will make Pacific Oaks College sustainable, both academically and financially, for the long term.
• Contingency Plan for a Teach-out of the College
The Contingency Plan for a Teach-out of the College is to be presented to Board committees in time for presentation to the Board at its fall 2007 meeting. The contingency of a teach-out of the College is a worst case scenario that could be put into effect by the Board in case either of the following circumstances should occur:
o if the Board were to determine that the proposed Plan to Stabilize the College was not a viable plan, or
o if, at a later time, the Board were to determine that an approved Plan to Stabilize the College was no longer viable, and that a viable Plan to Sustain the College had not yet been developed and approved.
The Board and I are deeply committed to saving the College, and we will do everything we can to do so. I hope that all of you will join us in these efforts.
I have appointed a small committee to help collect and review the information that I and others will need to create a proposed Plan to Stabilize the College. For example, we will need information on the revenues and expenses of the various academic programs, including use of facilities, faculty workloads, responsibilities of Academic Directors, and use of adjunct faculty contracts. Jan Brown will chair this committee, and I will serve ex officio. The members are Tami Friedrich, Judy Magee, Kimberly Pollard, Rebecca Rojas, and Tim Sundeen. The focus of this committee is the information needed to develop a proposed Plan to Stabilize the College.
The Board took under advisement the report of the Task Force and asked that I express to the Community the Board’s appreciation of the thoughtful work of the Task Force members.
On June 2 the Board approved the proposed 2007–2008 budget for the Children’s School. Observing that College enrollment projections are based on insufficient data, the Board did not approve the proposed 2007-2008 budget for the College and Administration. Instead, the Board adopted a provisional budget for the College and Administration, to serve as spending limits for the next three months. The Board also decided to grant 3% salary increases to employees effective July 1, 2007.
The Board directed me to prepare a revised budget proposal based on more reliable enrollment data and to present this revised budget proposal to Board committees in time for informed action at its fall 2007 meeting. We will begin immediately to make changes in the way we admit, register, and account for current and prospective students, so that we have data that is accurate, complete, timely, and useful for budgeting. I will work with faculty members, student services staff members, and administrators in making the necessary changes.
In light of financial realities, I have put on hold all staff hiring until further notice. In developing the Plan to Stabilize the College, I may decide that some additional hiring is necessary. I may also determine that some temporary positions may be necessary to stabilize the College. I will make these decisions based on institutional priorities.
Since we are operating on a provisional budget, approved for a limited time only, it will be necessary to place strict spending limits on all accounts. In the near future Tami Friedrich will give you the spending limits for your accounts.
It is a new day. No longer will Pacific Oaks allow employees to make unauthorized commitments of any kind on behalf of Pacific Oaks. This applies to any commitments, including those made to outside organizations, to students, to current employees, and to prospective employees. Unauthorized commitments have been a major source of our financial difficulties. Individuals who make commitments without appropriate authorization are subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination. If you are not certain that you have appropriate authority to make a commitment, ask me.
It is clear to me and to the Board that, in order to stabilize and to sustain the College, the activities of the College must be managed more tightly. Tighter management is an essential step toward saving the College. It is my responsibility to lead us beyond managing as we have traditionally done, to managing in a way that will give us the best chance of stabilizing and sustaining the College, and I will do so.
Of course, tighter management alone cannot save the College. Tighter management will be an essential part of stabilizing the College, but it will not be sufficient to sustain the College for the long term. To sustain the College for the long term, all of us must think creatively and realistically about everything we do, including our academic programs. We may need to make major changes in our academic programs and in our operations. We must unite in trying everything we can to make the College academically and financially sustainable.
The College is a valuable institution that deserves to be saved. Commencement this year was an example of Pacific Oaks College at its best. It exemplified our rich history and our finest traditions: the diversity of our graduates and their deep commitment to serving communities, making them better places for children and families.
Warm regards,
Carolyn
6/27/07