“The increase or decline in enrollment not only results
changes to the tuition and fees revenues but also to revenues from sales and
services,” the division said in the BOT budget workbook. “The significant enrollment decline which
occurred in the current fiscal year resulted in a decline in tuition and fees
revenues in excess of $9 million.”
FAMU had 10,738 students in Fall 2013. That went down to
10,233 students in Fall 2014 for a loss of 505. FAMU lost another 313 students
in Fall 2015 for a total of 9,920.
The university expects to lose 920 students in 2016-2017, which will lead
to more budget cuts.
FAMU expects to receive about $11M in performance funding
for 2016-2017. That money is supposed to give universities a boost. But FAMU
won’t see much of a gain because it has to use most of those funds to cover the money
it will lose from the enrollment decline.
“$10M of the $11M [in performance funding] was applied to
what we called an enrollment gap,” Acting BOT Chairman Kelvin Lawson said of
the 2016-2017 budget.
President Elmira Mangum said the enrollment decline is a
concern because it could affect essential faculty jobs for programs that FAMU
needs in order to keep its accreditation with the Southern Association of
Colleges and Schools.
“61 percent of our
resources are in salaries,” Mangum said.
Provost Marcella David said the administration is doing its best
to find ways to make cuts that will spare faculty jobs.
“We have looked at vacant faculty lines…We have looked at
other savings,” she said.
Trustee Thomas W. Dortch, Jr. asked whether hiring freezes
were in place.
“I assume there are hiring freezes for the nonessential
positions and positions that haven’t been filled,” he asked.
“It’s an option,” Mangum told him. “A hiring freeze is an
option.”
Lawson saw what he considered to be some problems in the
2016-2017 budget prepared by the administration. He said the administration hadn’t
gone far enough to make the adjustments that were necessary.
“The revenue stream is dropping quickly and the expense line
is relatively flat,” he said.