Students, administrators disagree on funds

Recent efforts to plan the University's financial future have put students' current needs in stark relief, as undergraduates have been clamoring for immediate funds. Though Tufts' financial limitations have long been a point of frustration, administrators insist that spending must wait until the completion of another capital campaign.

At a forum with trustees a week and a half ago, representatives of on-campus groups articulated many short-term funding needs not mentioned by the Task Force reports. A number of students made specific complaints of outdated technology, inadequate facilities, and aging classrooms. Student representatives also asked for immediate financial support for minority outreach programs and curricular reform, particularly the addition of ethnic studies courses.

In the short term, the Task Force, the most visible planning effort on campus, "simply asks that money be spent in a more intentional way and that improvements that enhance intellectual atmosphere, community, and coherence be given priority," the interim report said. The report's short-term recommendations include improving study spaces and classroom design and increasing the visibility of the Tufts name and seal on campus.

Current undergraduates may wish to see those short-term expenditures go toward other projects, however. Although the Task Force has held at least five open student forums and made other efforts to hear the study body's opinion, some undergraduates have recently raised concerns not mentioned in the report.

But many say the University cannot even meet many of its current needs. "We are unable to provide adequate financial resources to our current faculty in the form of salaries, opportunities for funded research leaves, and sufficient research support to match our expectations for faculty scholarship," the Task Force's interim report said.

Both the administration and the Board of Trustees recognize many of these needs as important priorities for the University's long-term development. At the forum, trustees frequently pointed out that students look at issues with a four-year horizon and often demand that changes be made faster than the trustees can effect them, since the Board must consider the University's long-term financial health.

The University's budget is likely to remain at or near current levels until the funds from the next capital campaign begin to be realized. As administrators assess each school's programmatic needs, they can begin to plan the shape of another fundraising campaign, Vice President for Finance and Treasurer Tom McGurty said. A goal for the next campaign has not yet been established.

When the time comes for the University to spend the funds derived from the next capital campaign, the Task Force's findings will likely be very influential. The Task Force's long-term recommendations _ changes that current students will almost certainly not see during their time at Tufts _ include implementing need blind admissions, creating a residential college system, and completing Phase III of the Mayer Campus Center, which would add a faculty dining hall, a multi-purpose function room, expanded recreational space and dining commons, an art gallery, rehearsal space and student organization offices.

Though some of these recommendations will be quite expensive, the Task Force included a number of suggestions for raising funds, such as targeting donors toward specific projects. "We have tried to be mindful of the resources required as we bring about change," the report said.

Another focus of the administration and Board of Trustees _ one that is likely to be off students' radar screen _ is building the endowment. "The endowment is a very significant focus" for the next capital campaign, McGurty said, and President Bacow has made it one of his main priorities.

In recent decades, Tufts' trajectory toward becoming a top-tier undergraduate school and research university has become more pronounced, making its endowment issues all the more evident. The University's endowment is currently valued at $677 million, much lower than the endowments of many of its peer schools. Brown University's endowment is more than twice as large as Tufts', and Dartmouth's is more than four times as large.

Though building the endowment may come at the expense of students in the short run, future students will benefit.

"The goal to increase endowment is consistent with the goal to increase financial aid funds as well," McGurty said, because returns on the endowment's investment can help it grow and provide additional income.

The University does plan for a certain number of unexpected gifts each year, but these funds are used to augment the budgets of the undergraduate and graduate schools, not to finance specific projects. In recent years, about $10 million of such gifts go toward the University's Annual Fund, which covers the day-to-day running costs of the University.

Tufts' last capital campaign, Tufts Tomorrow, ended in June and raised $609 million. The funds supported a number of initiatives, including $223 million for enlarging the endowment, $110 million for renovation and new construction, and $78 million for the Tufts Fund for current spending. Another $198 million was allocated to "restricted current uses," including $86 million for student financial aid, $55 million for endowed faculty chairs, and $81 million for other endowed programs.

The Task Force on the Undergraduate Experience, created by President Larry Bacow soon after his arrival in the fall of 2001, was charged with helping to "shape the priorities for undergraduate education and life" for the next capital campaign. The Task Force has recently released two interim reports detailing its initial recommendations for future spending.