President's Remarks

... [A]s you know, the Trustees have charged me with returning the College to a balanced budget by FY28. The College has carried a budget deficit in each of the last three years. This is not sustainable.

The reality of higher education isn’t always a smooth road, and Ithaca is living that reality. The next three years are going to require change, and much will be asked of the College community.

But our reality also provides an opportunity, and it is one that we must take. We owe it to our community to use this opportunity to do more than just balance the budget. We can and must do the hard work necessary to realign our organization and our strategy to allow us to provide the best educational experience for our students.

Last October, when I announced that we had retained the Huron Consulting Group to engage with us in an Administrative Analysis Study, I also said this:

“It is important to recognize that this work is not solely focused on cost reduction. The College cannot cut its way to success. We must also identify where we can invest in our community, where we can grow, and how we need to adapt to continue to provide valuable experiences for our students, faculty, and staff.”

My message to you today is the same as it was to the trustees last week: We need to invest in faculty and staff salaries. We need to invest in the physical plant, and in technology. And we absolutely must align our expenses with our revenue so we can continue our mission to educate, engage, and empower through theory, practice, and performance.

We have begun this process by focusing on the feasibility of certain revenue enhancements, and by beginning a review of our organizational structure – from top to bottom – in comparison to similar institutions....

There is hard work ahead. And yes, we have difficult decisions to make. And I know some of you – probably most of you – were hoping to hear more specific details today. But we are just not there yet.

I can say this: We are approaching this work with passion, compassion, and commitment.

Every decision we make will be based on what we believe is in the best interests of this institution....

Throughout this work, I have reminded our leaders and our partners that we are not here to hope for the best. We are here to prepare for the known and to be prepared for the unexpected. In the next two months, we will integrate selected opportunities into our Fiscal Year 2026 budget forecast which will be presented to the board at our May meeting.

A balanced budget by FY28 is just one of our objectives. Through this work we aim to prepare this institution for generations of future students. While achieving our budget goals must happen, we will do so strategically and intentionally, in ways that make us stronger and in ways that enhance the education and experiences of our students who are our “why....”

Folks, we’ve done hard work before. We are going to do hard work, again. We are preparing this institution for future generations of students.

I thank you for joining us today and we will be in touch.