Frequently Asked Questions re: A Sound Future

A Sound Future represents a planning framework that identifies strategies to transform the institution and achieve financial equilibrium, consistent with the goals of Leadership for a Changing World. The president and Cabinet want to receive and incorporate feedback as they finalize strategies and gather more data and information before implementing the plan. As an example, they may need to recalibrate the plan based on the initial response to the Faculty Retirement Incentive Program (FRIP) and reinstated and modified Phased Retirement Program for Full-Time Tenured Faculty. And they are committed to completing an analysis of the impact of possibly discontinuing any academic programs and gathering more data on the benefits of several strategies, including the expansion of graduate programs, campus development opportunities, and other academic revenue opportunities.

As charged by the president and at the direction of the Board, the AAAPR Committee (“AAAPRC”) provided recommendations to the president in a detailed report delivered on September 26, 2022. President Crawford carefully considered the AAAPRC’s Report and Recommendations, consulted with others, solicited feedback from the campus community regarding the AAAPRC’s Report, shared the Report with the Board of Trustees, and used the information received to outline a plan, A Sound Future. The plan was approved by the Board and included the AAAPR’s recommendations that both addressed the budget deficit and focused on the university’s transformation for the future. He also provided additional cost-cutting and revenue-generating measures to close the $10 million structural budget deficit and meet financial equilibrium by the close of FY 2026 (June 30, 2026), as directed by the Board. The president is currently in the process of gathering feedback and additional information from campus constituents. Your continued suggestions, comments, questions, and feedback are welcome to be submitted to asoundfuture@pugetsound.edu and you are encouraged to continue to visit pugetsound.edu/sound-future for additional information and updates as they become available.

Most of the AAAPR’s recommendations are incorporated in part or in full in A Sound Future. Those that were not included did not achieve the dual goals of transforming the institution and addressing the budget deficit. More specifically, the academic department clustering proposal would result in significant disruption with little identified savings; the 3-2 load proposal would necessarily require more faculty FTE to teach the same number of courses, and would therefore increase costs; the core revision lacked breadth, did not require exposure to multiple areas of knowing and did not result in savings; external consultants will not be utilized to evaluate staffing needs as university leaders will be charged with identifying and acting on process improvement opportunities.

Program consolidation is an incorrect characterization of clustering, as departments and programs would not experience formal consolidation, mergers, or reconfiguration. The formation of clusters would cause significant disruption to many departments and programs, for a projected savings of only $70,000.

Several outcomes associated with clustering are possible now, without the administrative disruption and labor required by the implementation of clusters. This includes: collaboration between programs on curriculum and staffing; creative rethinking of current majors and programs and more sustainable major requirements; mergers of departments or programs; split faculty lines and joint appointments; and teaching across different departments.

Providing an across-the-board teaching load of 3-2 (before accounting for additional releases provided to faculty for heavier service commitments) means that more faculty FTE are required to teach the same number of courses.

Requiring more faculty to teach the same number of classes means that more FTE are required to be recovered, in order to reach the target of 30-35 faculty FTEs to align our faculty complement with our student enrollment. Thus, a 3-2 load would place more pressure on the likelihood of academic program discontinuations to achieve the necessary reductions in faculty FTE.

The core curriculum is vital to our mission and the ongoing reputation of Puget Sound and the faculty are encouraged to continue to think of ways of revising or simplifying the core curriculum. The breadth and depth model creates the following challenges:

• Merely requiring students to have a major and minor in different areas or approaches to knowledge does not fulfill the mission of the university and is inadequate when it comes to providing a true liberal arts education. For example, students could graduate from Puget Sound without having taken a single Math, Art, or Science course.
• This model enhances depth but limits the exploration (breadth) that is required in the current core.
• Some students already struggle to complete a major, and the challenges of being able to succeed in a particular set of sequenced courses for both a major and minor might create further hardships for particular students.
• While the Faculty Senate endorsed this model among two models advanced by the AAAPR Committee, the full faculty has not had a chance to endorse the “breadth and depth” model.

The process to fully develop and implement A Sound Future will continue as we move forward over the next several months and as we look ahead to the next few fiscal years. We are still at the beginning of an ongoing conversation in a collaborative process, including consultation and engagement with our shared governance bodies. Following are key dates and milestones for short-term reference:

• October 28, 2022: BOT approved “A Sound Future” strategies via resolution and approved financial equilibrium date re-set to the end of FY26 (June 30, 2026)
• November 1, 2022: Faculty Retirement Incentive Program (“FRIP”) introduced and offered to eligible faculty
• December 1, 2022: Modified Phased Retirement Program introduced and offered to eligible faculty
• December 2022: Campus Update Regarding A Sound Future
• January 3, 2023: Deadline for Faculty Retirement Incentive Program (FRIP) and applications for Phased Retirement Program
• January 6, 2023: Phased Retirement Program approvals confirmed
• January 11, 2023: FRIP approvals confirmed
• January 2023: Campus Update Regarding A Sound Future
• February and ongoing: Periodic consultation among members of the campus community to share information
• February 23-24, 2023: Board of Trustees Meetings
• May 11-12, 2023: Board of Trustees Meetings

Many of you have specifically asked about the timelines associated with potential reductions in the staff salary base and potential academic program discontinuations. More time and exploration is needed to understand where staff reductions may be considered to achieve a 6% reduction in the salary base, and how reductions might first be considered by absorbing positions that are currently vacant. Similarly, the response to the FRIP needs to be known, and an analysis must be completed regarding the impact of potential academic program discontinuations, before any decisions are made. More information will be known and shared in the Spring term.

The process for determining possible reductions started with the AAAPR Committee, and going forward will include input from elected shared governance bodies, and members of the campus community. President Crawford is currently soliciting additional feedback from governance leaders as well as faculty, staff, and students. In the end, President Crawford holds responsibility for consolidating the feedback and ideas and ensuring the implementation plans meet the budgetary threshold that provides financial equilibrium for the university. Final approval for A Sound Future’s implementation is held by the Board of Trustees.

We don’t yet know whether there will be layoffs of current employees. If that becomes a necessity, we will carefully and thoughtfully consider how to implement those changes with care for our colleagues who are affected, in alignment with our values and with attention to how we may best meet the needs of our students going forward.

At this time, we cannot know for certain if any academic program discontinuations will be required. Program discontinuations are painful, and yet they must be considered at this time to reach financial equilibrium and achieve an 11:1 student:faculty ratio. While we await the results of the FRIP, phased retirement program, and reductions in contingent faculty FTE, we will be conducting an analysis of the impact of discontinuations of particular programs. These potential impacts will be a major component of any decision, and we will consult with the Faculty Senate should we need to consider program discontinuations. Program discontinuations will be considered as a last resort if unreplaced retirements and a reduction in contingent faculty do not get the university to the needed financial equilibrium and the 11:1 student:faculty ratio.

At this time, we cannot know for certain if any academic program discontinuations will be required. Should programs need to be discontinued, multiple metrics will be used, including the potential disruption caused (including impact on curriculum, the strategic plan, current students, alumni, prospective students, and donors). The exact metrics have not been finalized yet— nor has the need for program discontinuation been decided — but the determination of these metrics will be made after consultation with the Faculty Senate.

Faculty retirement incentives are one of many measures being discussed. Reductions in faculty FTE through contingent and adjunct lines are also being explored. Moreover, staff reductions and savings from improved fiscal policies are identified within A Sound Future. The university has already achieved savings through reductions in operating budgets, capital budgets, and restructuring of outstanding debt.

Nonbinding and optional retirement commitments more than a year and a half from now can always be retracted, and therefore do not address the structural budget deficit. We are not including non-binding retirement calculations in our current budgeting and planning efforts. Our current retirement-based efforts are focused on those eligible for traditional retirement, the FRIP, or the reinstated modified phased retirement program.

Endowment earnings are used primarily to support faculty, students, programs, and the operations of the university. Most of the university’s endowment is earmarked by donors for specific programs or offerings, and therefore we are legally unable to liquidate these funds for other purposes. Very few of our endowment funds are discretionary; removing those funds from the endowment to pay our current-day expenses would have negative consequences on our long-term financial health and stability. Additionally, decreasing the corpus of the endowment by making continued withdrawals from the endowment has a negative impact on the funds available to directly support students, faculty, programs, and the University.

Our goal isn’t just to fill seats in our classrooms at any cost (or loss). Our goals are to increase enrollment to 2,300 well qualified students, increase retention, and increase per-student revenue. Increasing our discount rate might - in theory - help bring greater numbers of students but would do so at a diminished revenue-per-student rate and potentially greater loss per student. Therefore, more students at lower revenue amounts ultimately wouldn’t meet the Board’s expectations for financial equilibrium.

Questions and/or feedback can be emailed to asoundfuture@pugetsound.edu.

An archive of information and communications can be found at pugetsound.edu/sound-future.

Regular updates regarding the progress being made through A Sound Future will be distributed to the entire campus community and those messages will be posted on pugetsound.edu/sound-future. You can expect an update to be distributed to campus next week, followed by subsequent updates throughout the spring term and through FY26.

No. The University will provide opportunities for all full-time, currently-enrolled students to continue their paths toward graduation within their current majors, should any academic program be discontinued.

The AAAPR Committee identified overlapping services and offerings for student success and support services. A Sound Future outlines important steps that focus on the success of our students. We will be further investing in support mechanisms to limit the consistent wayfinding challenges our students experience. We are adding additional support staff focused on student success and graduate programs, and reconsidering the current structure of our student support offices to ensure students access to the services they need in the most timely and direct ways possible.

The planned tuition increase for FY 2024 is similar to our past practice. A comprehensive student fee proposal will be included in the annual budget that will be initially presented to the Board of Trustees in February 2023 and finalized in May 2023.

Staff retirement incentives have not been confirmed at this time. Options for staff retirement incentive opportunities are being explored and more information will be shared as it becomes available and necessary.

Staff compensation is being reviewed through the Total Rewards Project, which aims to determine market-equitable wages for staff and will rely upon internal and external data. The long-range budget model assumed a 3% increase to base compensation for most years. However, given recent wage inflation, a 5% increase has been assumed for FY24 and FY25 to help address internal and external equity. A review of position titles and scope of duties is also included in the Total Rewards project to ensure positions are correctly titled and classified within our wage classification structure.

At this time, we do not know if any staff reductions will be required.

We will continue to look for opportunities to function as efficiently and effectively as possible to move Puget Sound forward. Over the next several months, we will be working collaboratively to examine our organizational structure and staffing levels to ensure that we can provide the care and support for our students in order to ensure their success.

We will monitor existing staff vacancies to determine the need to fill open positions, and to explore the possibility of absorbing vacant staff positions to achieve our goal of a 6% reduction in total staff expense.

We will know more about potential staff reductions and options for existing staff late in the Spring term. We will approach any staff reductions thoughtfully and carefully and do so in line with our values.

At this time, we do not know if any staff reductions will be required, and we will know more about potential staff reductions and options for existing staff late in the Spring term.

Any staff reductions will be taken in accordance with the Reduction in Force Policy, and staff will be eligible for re-employment as described in the policy.

To help University of Puget Sound more proactively plan for faculty transitions and to help plan for the institution’s long-term needs, the University elected to provide a Faculty Retirement Incentive Program (the “Program” or “FRIP”). The FRIP is a one-time opportunity for eligible tenured faculty members to voluntarily retire and end employment as of June 30, 2023, in exchange for a special incentive package. Eligible faculty were notified of this opportunity on November 1, 2022. Participation in the Program is strictly voluntary.

The January timeline for faculty to elect to participate in FRIP allows the administration to calculate salary savings from retirement commitments as it prepares a proposed budget for FY 2024 and drafts the next steps for A Sound Future for presentation at the February Board of Trustees meeting.

Per the Faculty Bylaws, the Curriculum Committee has as one of its duties “[t]o review proposals for new majors, minors, and programs.” (See Charge #7) Therefore, the Curriculum Committee, as a standing committee of the faculty, would review proposals for new majors, minors, and programs.

A thorough compensation and benefits review of faculty pay, including adjunct pay, will be completed as part of the Total Rewards Project, which was announced last month. This Project is expected to occur over the next 12-18 months, alongside the implementation of strategies for A Sound Future. The goal of Total Rewards is to evaluate our compensation and benefits programs to ensure they support our ability to attract, hire, retain, and motivate capable and committed employees. We expect the project will also yield a comprehensive total rewards philosophy that will support the University’s mission now and in the future, and position us as an employer of choice in higher education and the region. Faculty will be members of the committee.