Financial report for the first quarter of 2008 (July 1, 2007 to Sept. 30, 2007)
Highlights of the report made to the Board of Trustees during the Board's Dec. 12 meeting
Dear Colleagues,
We began the fiscal year in July in a position of financial strength, thanks to higher enrollment in 2006-07, successful cost control measures and solid returns on our investments, among other factors. Our improved financial position allowed us to make a number of strategic investments for this academic year, including:
- additional faculty positions to help meet the demand for general education courses;
- additional police officers to enhance safety across our expanded campus;
- additional academic advisers to improve service to students; and
- renovations to classroom and laboratory spaces and equipment purchases to support classroom activity and research.
Our financial results for the first three months of this fiscal year were on target. On the revenue side, we have benefited from:
- an increase in enrollment that slightly exceeded our budgeted amount,
- a higher return than anticipated on our investments, and
- an increase in income in our sales operations.
These gains, however, were partially offset by two factors: (1) Credit hour production was lower on the main campus this summer. (2) Our state appropriation, while higher than in recent years, was slightly lower than we had projected. Overall, however, our revenue is slightly higher than what we budgeted.
On the expense side, we were ahead of the budget primarily because some anticipated expenses had yet to be realized. This is not unusual early in a fiscal year, and these things historically balance out over the course of a year.
We will continue our cost-control initiatives this year, including the review of vacancies by the Strategic Position Review Committee and the effort to lower energy use as part of the broader Blue, Gold and Green initiative.
With enrollment numbers for spring favorable, we believe our financial picture for at least the near term will remain stable and positive.
As always, I welcome your questions and input. Send your ideas or questions to budget_ideas@uakron.edu.
To our continued success,
F. John Case
Vice President for Finance and Administration/CFO
