UNC Asheville in $6M deficit, plans to cut spending, hiring, possible staff cuts

ASHEVILLE - UNC Asheville is facing a financial shortfall, according to the university's new Chancellor Kimberly van Noort, who spoke in a sit-down interview Feb. 7 with the Citizen Times.

Van Noort, who was named UNCA's ninth chancellor Nov. 29, originally made the announcement Feb. 6 at a meeting of faculty and staff, saying the institution is running a $6 million deficit that must be addressed for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, and will likely lead to staffing cuts.

“The first thing we do is draw down non-critical spending," van Noort told the Citizen Times as to how she planned to pull the university out of debt.

She said if corrective steps are not taken this year, the deficit will increase to $8 million next year.

UNCA's general fund budget for Fiscal Year 2024 is $71.1 million, and expenditures are 77.1 million, according to Michael P. Strysick, university spokesperson. He said the lion's share of expenditures is personnel expenses.

"We are making sure that people are only traveling if absolutely necessary. We are asking people to take a hard look at everything that they’re going to be spending for the rest of the year, we've stopped any hiring that we're doing right at the moment, except in very, very critical areas, just to make sure that we keep a rein on that budget. We're looking at everything,” she said.

Van Noort said the school will be analyzing academic programs and staff for potential cuts, but did not yet have data on specifics. She said staff plans to have a webpage available by Feb. 12 that will provide updates on any decisions made regarding these cuts, as well as other information on the school’s financial situation.

The Citizen Times recently reported that students majoring in education fell 75% in the past five years.

More: Answer Woman: How many students enrolled at Asheville colleges? Most popular majors?

How did UNCA get here?

The primary cause of this deficit was a five-year enrollment decline faced by the school, van Noort said. This decline resulted in a 25% overall decrease in the size of the student body. According to UNCA fact books, total numbers of enrolled first-time freshmen and transfer students are as follows for the past five years:

• 2018: 788 first-time freshmen, 320 new transfers

• 2019: 654 first-time freshmen, 292 new transfers

• 2020: 586 first-time freshmen, 313 new transfers

• 2021: 605 first-time freshmen, 297 new transfers

• 2022: 507 first-time freshmen, 275 new transfers

“All institutions of higher education are dealing with what some people call the demographic cliff, which basically means there are fewer students graduating from high school today, there are fewer 18-year-olds out there, and that is going to continue to decline,” van Noort said.

“This is a population issue. This is completely out of our control. We've also seen that some students are waiting to go to college. There's a lot of of people out in the workforce right now — the economy is good, unemployment is low, people are choosing to go to work. So there's a smaller pool from which to draw.”

At least one other local college is seeing similar circumstances.

The Board of Trustees at Warren Wilson College, a private institution in Swannanoa, voted last fall to discontinue by this fall five majors — chemistry, global studies, history and political science, math and philosophy — which would lead to the elimination of 14 faculty positions.

WWC Provost Jay Roberts told the Black Mountain News at that time that the move is part of a “strategic planning process” put forth by the college’s newest president, Damien Fernández.

He said the objectives Fernández wanted to focus on were "to strengthen our overall student experience, to create a more financially sustainable model for the institution moving forward and to create an educational experience that stays inclusive and as accessible as possible," Roberts said.

Van Noort also cited the pandemic as a reason for the UNCA enrollment decline, saying it has become “increasingly challenging for students to really understand the value of a liberal arts degree.”

She said she hopes to take an aggressive approach to change this in particular through marketing the success of alumni and taking a closer look at which programs and majors are of interest to potential students.

The 25% decline in the student body over the past five years has caused not only a decline in tuition revenue, but also a decline in the amount of financial support the school receives from the state due to the decrease in student numbers, van Noort said. On top of the impact created by this decline, she added that inflationary cost over the past five years had led to significant increases in what the school pays for utilities.

In the face of this unpleasant news, van Noort added a hopeful reminder to the community that recent changes, many of which occurred during her time as Interim Chancellor, have already stabilized the decline and produced some modest growth. Last year's freshman applications were 28% higher than the previous year, according to past Citizen Times reporting.

The university also established the Access Asheville program, which will guarantee that students whose families’ adjusted income is below $80,000 will not be asked to pay tuition and fees.

"That is very exciting for us. Because we really, truly believe in our mission, which is to provide students the ability to access a very high quality higher education.”

These enrollment gains will not boost UNCA's budget immediately due to the new state funding appropriations model. However, that controlling enrollment declines will prove to be an important goal toward the eventual stabilization of their finances, van Noort said.

One of van Noort’s planned measures to "build greater demand for a UNC Asheville degree through innovation and growth” will come in the form of a survey for students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents and donors. The “forward-looking vision survey” will ask the community for their ideas on how UNC Asheville can improve to best offer an education that van Noort explained will “prepare our graduates to bring wise leadership to the communities they will serve and the challenges that need to be tackled in an increasingly complex world.”

More: Answer Woman: How many students study education at local colleges, drop in enrollment?

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: UNC Asheville in $6 million deficit spending hiring cuts planned