Post by aggierattler on Apr 4, 2020 11:25:04 GMT -5
Just wondering if we will be affected in a similar way?? Are we doing the same types of refunds, and will our enrollment suffer in the fall??
FAMU losses estimated at $12.8 million and climbing
Byron Dobson
Tallahassee Democrat/USA TODAY NETWORK – FLORIDA
April 4, 2020
The unknown, as Florida braces for what’s next regarding the coronavirus impact on lives and the economy, is clearly on the minds of Florida A&M University’s trustees.
During an afternoon conference call Thursday, trustees approved spending up to $4.3 million from the university’s carry-forward funding – state money not spent in the previous year – to cover costs to refund students for housing they won’t be using for the rest of the semester and for meals they won’t receive.
Alan Robertson, FAMU’s chief financial officer and vice president for finance and administration, said the payouts could be more like $3.5 million, but the request is to ensure there is padding to cover expenses.
Robertson told trustees the university can expect to recoup that money through money the Department of Education receives through the recently approved $2-trillion CARES Act.
But he noted housing and meal refunds are just the beginning.
Robertson estimates losses in revenue, expenses for converting to full online instruction, software and other measures it has been forced to address because of the pandemic at $12.8 million.
“That (CARES Act) won’t begin to compensate us for all the lost revenue and expenses we’ve encountered, but it will pay for this,” Robertson said of the refunds.
“It gets even bigger if (the virus) affects the fall,” he said. “We are going to take a big hit from this, both this year and possibly into next year.”
Robertson, in an email to the Democrat following the teleconference, said the costs mount up when considering projected financial losses associated with housing, dining, athletics, campus events, summer camps, parking and commission losses from outside vendors.
“To work and instruct remotely, we have incurred additional personnel cost, expenses for online and remote instruction,” Robertson said. “Other expenses include computers, expanding bandwidth, equipment operating to connect to the internet, other communications equipment and software.”
That’s on top of added expenses for building maintenance, including cleaning and sanitization, as well as higher personnel costs, he said.
Robertson said the coronavirus response will have a major impact on building next year’s budget, a process already underway. What also must be taken into consideration is some revenue planned for higher education appropriations in this year’s approved legislative budget will be diverted to address pandemic-related measures.
FAMU already has instituted a hiring freeze, he said.
The impact on all higher education institutions could be immense, trustees said. Students have seen their lives disrupted and face uncertainties as parents are losing their jobs.
Will they return?
“As you have read, and I have read, the models are showing that during the next month, we are going to have an escalating sickness and death toll (in Florida) and we are going to have a stunning economic impact,” trustee David Lawrence Jr., said.
This will have an insurmountable impact on higher education, now, and in the future, he said.
“We need to have an extraordinary marketing plan for the fall and beyond because I think we are in peril, as is every institution of higher education, for a world in which students don’t come back for a whole host of reasons,” said Lawrence, chairman of The Children’s Movement of Florida and former publisher of the Miami Herald.
In response to references to the Great Recession, the economic collapse from 2007 to 2009, Lawrence said this is very different.
“I think this is the most serious thing of our whole lifetime because the Great Recession didn’t affect everyone, it affected a lot of people,” he said. “We knew what to do, we got out of it fairly quickly. This is likely to have implications for years to come on this institution and all of us.”
Board chairman Kelvin Lawson said the economic uncertainty is forcing everyone to “adjust to the new normal.”
Trustees will have to be prudent with the university’s resources, making sure reserve funding is available, and bracing against concerns, such as cybersecurity protection.
“We don’t know where the bottom is right now,” Lawson said. “What that does to the economics of our students’ parents is an unknown, so we have to brace for it.”
Contact senior writer Byron Dobson at bdobson@tallahassee.com and follow him on Twitter @byrondobson
FAMU losses estimated at $12.8 million and climbing
Byron Dobson
Tallahassee Democrat/USA TODAY NETWORK – FLORIDA
April 4, 2020
The unknown, as Florida braces for what’s next regarding the coronavirus impact on lives and the economy, is clearly on the minds of Florida A&M University’s trustees.
During an afternoon conference call Thursday, trustees approved spending up to $4.3 million from the university’s carry-forward funding – state money not spent in the previous year – to cover costs to refund students for housing they won’t be using for the rest of the semester and for meals they won’t receive.
Alan Robertson, FAMU’s chief financial officer and vice president for finance and administration, said the payouts could be more like $3.5 million, but the request is to ensure there is padding to cover expenses.
Robertson told trustees the university can expect to recoup that money through money the Department of Education receives through the recently approved $2-trillion CARES Act.
But he noted housing and meal refunds are just the beginning.
Robertson estimates losses in revenue, expenses for converting to full online instruction, software and other measures it has been forced to address because of the pandemic at $12.8 million.
“That (CARES Act) won’t begin to compensate us for all the lost revenue and expenses we’ve encountered, but it will pay for this,” Robertson said of the refunds.
“It gets even bigger if (the virus) affects the fall,” he said. “We are going to take a big hit from this, both this year and possibly into next year.”
Robertson, in an email to the Democrat following the teleconference, said the costs mount up when considering projected financial losses associated with housing, dining, athletics, campus events, summer camps, parking and commission losses from outside vendors.
“To work and instruct remotely, we have incurred additional personnel cost, expenses for online and remote instruction,” Robertson said. “Other expenses include computers, expanding bandwidth, equipment operating to connect to the internet, other communications equipment and software.”
That’s on top of added expenses for building maintenance, including cleaning and sanitization, as well as higher personnel costs, he said.
Robertson said the coronavirus response will have a major impact on building next year’s budget, a process already underway. What also must be taken into consideration is some revenue planned for higher education appropriations in this year’s approved legislative budget will be diverted to address pandemic-related measures.
FAMU already has instituted a hiring freeze, he said.
The impact on all higher education institutions could be immense, trustees said. Students have seen their lives disrupted and face uncertainties as parents are losing their jobs.
Will they return?
“As you have read, and I have read, the models are showing that during the next month, we are going to have an escalating sickness and death toll (in Florida) and we are going to have a stunning economic impact,” trustee David Lawrence Jr., said.
This will have an insurmountable impact on higher education, now, and in the future, he said.
“We need to have an extraordinary marketing plan for the fall and beyond because I think we are in peril, as is every institution of higher education, for a world in which students don’t come back for a whole host of reasons,” said Lawrence, chairman of The Children’s Movement of Florida and former publisher of the Miami Herald.
In response to references to the Great Recession, the economic collapse from 2007 to 2009, Lawrence said this is very different.
“I think this is the most serious thing of our whole lifetime because the Great Recession didn’t affect everyone, it affected a lot of people,” he said. “We knew what to do, we got out of it fairly quickly. This is likely to have implications for years to come on this institution and all of us.”
Board chairman Kelvin Lawson said the economic uncertainty is forcing everyone to “adjust to the new normal.”
Trustees will have to be prudent with the university’s resources, making sure reserve funding is available, and bracing against concerns, such as cybersecurity protection.
“We don’t know where the bottom is right now,” Lawson said. “What that does to the economics of our students’ parents is an unknown, so we have to brace for it.”
Contact senior writer Byron Dobson at bdobson@tallahassee.com and follow him on Twitter @byrondobson
