DePaulia
$56.5 MILLION? The
Volume #108 | Issue #9 | Jan. 16, 2023 | depauliaonline.com
DePaul’s financial condition ‘solid’ following budget gap, external analyst says By Nadia Caroline Hernandez & Lilly Keller Editor-in-Chief, Print Managing Editor
An external analysis brought in by a group representing some DePaul faculty claims that the university is in solid financial condition despite last year’s projected $56.5 million budget gap from the administration. DePaul’s American Association of University Professors (AAUP) chapter crowdfunded to bring Howard Bunsis to present his findings in mid-November, shortly before the holiday break. Bunsis is an accounting professor at Eastern Michigan University and former chair of the American Association of University Professors’ Collective Bargaining Congress and has given similar presentations at other universities such as Marquette and Columbia University. Within his two-hour-long presentation, Bunsis provided his own overview of the university’s finances, covering total assets, investments, reserves, bond rating, faculty composition and salaries compared to peer institutions. Bunsis, the university and at least one financial expert contacted by The DePaulia agreed that the future looks bright for DePaul. But Bunsis and university officials
“Overall, DePaul is in solid financial condition…I just don’t see how any cuts need to be made.” Howard Bunsis
Independent financial analyst disagree about whether faculty cuts made last spring to help close a projected $56 million budget gap were necessary. Speaking to an audience of 130 faculty, students and staff, Bunsis claimed that DePaul is financially sound and deemed the six faculty cuts “unnecessary.” In light of the projected budget gap,
several faculty positions were not renewed for the following school year. Others partook in the Voluntary Separation Incentive Program (VSIP), which offered eligible participants one year of gross wages paid in a lump sum, among other benefits. Bunsis reflected on how the university framed the crisis as “gloom and doom” in the spring and has remained too cautious, even as the university is bouncing back, post-pandemic. “Overall, DePaul is in solid financial condition…. I just don’t see how any cuts need to be made,” he said. Winifred Curran, an urban geology professor and AAUP member who initiated the GoFundMe to pay for Bunsis’ services, expressed satisfaction with his findings. “The biggest thing is that we are not in dire straits and that we’re relatively stable,” Curran said. “So let’s not cry wolf before it’s necessary, and instead, let’s have constructive conversations about how to move forward.” Several factors contributed to the university’s budget gap, including a decline in enrollment, the exacerbation of financial challenges by Covid-19 and a shortened evaluation period for the Strategic Resource Allocation Committee (SRAC) to
assess the budget gap and develop strategies to address it. According to DePaul President Robert Manuel, the gap between the university’s revenue and expenses was closed as of September. In a statement to The DePaulia, Manuel and his staff agreed with some points Bunsis made, and disagreed with others. The university agreed that there needs to be a focus on retention, that DePaul is financially stable, and that endowment investments are “appropriately balanced.” Manuel and the administration said in a statement to The DePaulia that they disagreed with Bunsis on the following: Professor Bunsis overstates the university’s ability to convert its net assets into cash to close a budget gap. Professor Bunsis incorrectly attributes DePaul’s increasing discount rate to the receipt of student Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds. Professor Bunsis assumed that between fiscal year 2019 and fiscal year 23, DePaul’s spending on instructional salaries and benefits declined. Professor Bunsis used expenses from
BUDGET, continued to page 5
Looking for deaf community at DePaul as a hard-of-hearing student ASL Club vice president Kes Eary, left, and president Sarah Hau, right, interact about the game they’re playing, completely in Sign Language during a meeting on Nov. 9, 2023. During meetings, a large portion of the time is “voices off,” meaning everyone has to communicate only in Sign Language.
COMMUNITY page 12 HAYLEY BREINES | PROVIDED