Wright State University’s Board of Trustees officially approved the school’s 2019 budget at a meeting Friday. The plan includes another round of layoffs. It's the latest chapter in the school's months-long effort to avoid being placed on state fiscal watch.
Wright State President Cheryl Schrader says as many as 40 positions could be eliminated during the coming fiscal year beginning July 1. She says some of those cuts could come through attrition.
University officials are forecasting a $10 million decrease in revenue, with much of it attributed to an expected drop in enrollment. Some members of the Board of Trustees expressed concerns that not enough is being done to boost revenue at the school.
"It makes me a little nervous to project a high enrollment number," said Board of Trustees President Doug Fecher. "Because it is true that in our past experience we have projected too high and titrated our expenses to a higher enrollment number and when it didn't come in we spend the next year cutting and that's painful."
Trustee Bruce Langos suggested exploring creative ways to attract more students to the school. He was the only trustee present at the meeting to vote against the budget proposal.
The university has eliminated dozens of jobs and made steep cuts in the past year in an effort to balance its budget after years of overspending.
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