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Trustees Vote to Allow University to Take on Debt, Reduce Endowment Spending

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The Cornell Board of Trustees unanimously agreed this afternoon to allow the University incur up to a half-billion dollars in debt and scale back its endowment spending.

The Trustees authorized the University to sell up to $500 million in taxable bonds to provide working capital and institutional liquidity.

The University is also set to reduce spending from the endowment by 15 percent starting July 1, with further cuts planned for subsequent years.

“[The University] can’t keep taking the money out as if it were a larger endowment,” President David Skorton said in an interview Friday.

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Qatar Campus Expands Despite Current Economy

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While Cornell faces a $200 million budget shortfall and University-wide budget cuts, the Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar is continuing to expand. The Qatari campus, which is largely funded by a non-profit organization established by the Qatari government, expects a larger budget and expanded research program next year.
Cornell’s campus in Qatar, a small nation on the Persian Gulf, was established in 2002. It has not yet reached its “full maturity,” said Stephen Cohen, the associate provost of Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City.
“Overall, the student body is still growing and faculty is growing,” he said.

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HumEc Prepares Budget

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The College of Human Ecology had no inclination as to any future benefits when it was given three days notice that it had to abandon the old north wing of Martha Van Rensselaer Hall eight years ago. In 2001, the college effectively lost 30 percent of its space that it used for academic, research and outreach programs when the north wing of MVR was determined to have structural deficiencies, according to John Lamson, assistant dean of communications for Human Ecology.

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Cornell Budget Cuts Pose Challenges for Research

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Although Cornell’s extensive review of its budget includes cuts in all academic colleges, the leaders of Cornell’s research programs feel confident that the research programs will continue to expand, and in the long-run, maintain Cornell’s position as one of the top research institutions in the world.
In the last decade, Cornell has worked to improve its research programs. Today, the University sponsors over 100 interdisciplinary institutes located in Ithaca, New York State, and abroad. However, with the University’s proposed budget cuts, the Office of the Vice Provost for Research, which runs most of these institutes and programs, will be tested to maintain the high quality of research at Cornell.

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Amid Recession, More Apply to Law School

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This is the second article in a series examining the effects of the recession on budget and admissions policies in Cornell’s graduate and professional schools.

Likely the result of the current economic downturn, the Cornell Law School has seen a surge in applicants this year.
Richard Geiger, associate dean for communications and enrollment, explained that the economy has a countercyclical effect on law school applications, meaning that when the economy is down, the number of law school applications goes up. He anticipates that next year will be the time that applications increase most dramatically.

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Early Preparation Enables ILR to Better Face Budget Cuts

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This is the third article in a series examining the effects of the University’s budget cuts on individual schools and colleges.

As some of Cornell’s seven colleges scramble to meet Provost Kent Fuchs’ call for a five percent University-wide budget cut, the School of Industrial and Labor Relations has taken it in stride. With the need to cut $1.7 million from ILR’s $34 million unrestricted budget, Dean Harry Katz has pledged that the cuts would not directly affect students, classes, professors or other faculty members on campus.

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Cornell Profs Express Views On Obama's Stimulus Plan

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President Obama signed the most sweeping piece of economic legislation in the nation’s history on Feb. 17 in Denver, Col., officially sparking what may prove to be a long road to financial recovery. On campus, students and professors voiced their opinion, highlighting attitudes ranging from cautious optimism to vitriolic critique.

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Student Assembly Meeting

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At yesterday’s Student Assembly meeting, a major objective was to discuss a potential timeline of fiscal planning for 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 byline funding. The S.A. discussed their expectations for each byline-funded group to submit a “preliminary application” due late April, specifying the amount they will be asking for. However, the S.A. stressed that the amount each organization requests in their preliminary application will not be final, and the S.A. will request an official application due early next fall.
Ryan Lavin ’09, president of the S.A., articulated that the purpose of the preliminary application is “to be as fiscally responsible as we can be … while maintaining the quality of student activities for undergraduates.”

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CALS Will Cut $4M More To Reach 5-Percent Goal

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This is the second article in a series examining the effects of the University’s budget cuts on individual schools and colleges.

The $2.8 million cut in state funding for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences announced in the fall was unwelcome but not altogether unfamiliar. Throughout the college’s history, CALS has faced three periods of significant reductions resulting from state cuts, according to CALS Senior Associate Dean Jan Nyrop. However, in order to account for the University-mandated 5 percent cut — in accordance with the Ithaca campus reduction of the same amount — the college will have to cut an additional $4 million, amounting to a significant decrease unparalleled in CALS history.

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Board of Education Discusses Phasing Out Lehman Middle School

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The Ithaca Board of Education met last week to discuss a three-year plan to phase out the middle school component of Lehman Alternative Community School, which is currently a 6-12 secondary school. Members of the Lehman school community attended the meeting to oppose the plan that would increase the enrollment at Lehman by adding about 50 high school students, according to The Ithaca Journal.
At the meeting, Ithaca City School District Superintendent Judith Pastel presented the proposal, describing it as “one potential scenario with dealing with the fiscal situation.”