Budget and Financials

BUDGET AND FINANCIALS

SHARED STEWARDSHIP

The decision to move to synchronous teaching and learning in March 2020 because of the COVID-19 crisis had significant impact on budget and finances for the 2019-20 fiscal year and beyond—an impact that will continue to be calibrated as our community adjusts Fall 2020 living and learning plans. To address this impact, Trinity analyzed operating budget reductions across multiple planning scenarios. By May 2020, Trinity estimated a gap in its operating budget of $22.7 million. President Anderson established the President’s Operating Budget Task Force in May, which was charged with proposing ways to close this gap. In June 2020, the Task Force identified FY21 operating budget reductions of more than $11 million, split over 13 reduction initiatives. To balance the remainder of the budget shortfall, the Task Force recommended using up to $11.8 million of rainy day reserves.

With each recommendation, the Task Force referenced a set of guiding principles and a decision-making rubric that included the following measures:

Trinity’s highest priority is to continue to meet the academic and developmental needs of our current and future students and to deliver an exceptional student experience. The Task Force attempted to protect budgets that directly serve our students.

Faculty and staff engagement is critical to the University’s long-term success, and the Task Force prioritized budget reductions in a manner that would have the least impact on employee morale. The Task Force considered the impact of decisions across all stakeholders and addressed the potential for disparities in impact.

The initiatives and subsequent balanced budget was approved by the Trinity University Board of Trustees in late June 2020. Some recommendations have already been put into motion, while others will be phased in with the guidance of Trinity’s Executive Leadership Team and department and office supervisors.

As the national and local COVID-19 situation evolves, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the gap in the operating budget will increase over the 2020-21 fiscal year, as revenue will continue to be impacted by shifts to on-campus residency models, extending remote learning, and providing additional student scholarship support. The Operating Budget Task Force will remain activated throughout the 2020-21 fiscal year, continuing to identify recommendations to keep a balanced budget for this year and the years ahead. The University welcomed four new members to its Board of Trustees in the 2019-20 academic year.

Ruth Kelleher Agather

Partner at Rosenthal Pauerstein Sandoloski Agather LLP in San Antonio, Texas

Annell R. Bay ’77

Chair of the corporate governance committee for Apache Corporation in Houston, Texas

Jelynne LeBlanc Burley M’88

President and CEO of the Center for Health Care Services in Bexar County, Texas

Cydney C. Donnell

Julio S. LaGuarata Professor in Real Estate and executive professor and associate department head of finance at the Mays School of Business at Texas A&M University in College Station