Keene State College’s fiscal year 2025 budget for the University System of New Hampshire (USNH) Board of Trustees is currently in its primary stage.
A memo going through the strategy, which Vice President for Finance and Administration Nathalie Houder called a “higher level,” this fiscal year was sent by email back in December. The memo identified the compensation faculty and staff received because Houder said that was the majority of the costs in the budget. Houder says the first part of the budgeting process has begun.
“Right now we are in the process of evaluating our labor structure and also our fixed costs. That is at the cabinet level working with various departments,” Houder said.
According to Houder, progress is being made to reduce the deficit in the budget. Additionally, Houder said with initiatives, the fiscal 2025 deficit would be around $600,000, which is a reduction from fiscal year 2024’s $2.7 million deficit.
“That is on our path to breaking even, where our revenues will exceed or break even with our revenues, at least covering our expenses, if not more,” Houder said. “Right now, unfortunately, our expenses are higher than our revenue.”
The new incentivized retirement plan, which allows senior faculty to opt into a retirement or transition plan, is expected to bring Keene State College around $660,000 in annual savings.
According to Houder, flat funding department budgets has been a strategy seen in previous years, but has seen some difficulties for bringing the same strategy to this year. She said while rolling the budget forward happened in the years prior, it can be harder in an inflationary environment.
“It is much more strategic to work as we will be with each of the departments to support our strategic plan and to support our financial stability. What you need to be most successful and what resources you need to achieve that,” Houder said
What faculty, staff and students can expect from the fiscal year 2025 budget is getting close to breaking even as possible, according to Houder. Initiatives are being put in place, which includes returns on investments from the board of trustees.
Feedback from students is not only expected, but encouraged to give the students what they need to be successful at their time at Keene State College.
“We are on the front end of the budget, but certainly we want feedback because our first priority is ensuring students’ success. So that is why we are evaluating those large pieces of the budget on the front end to make sure we are making the right decisions as we move forward to achieve financial stability,” Houder said.
Houder said that student success is a top priority, while also making sure to maintain financial sustainability. She said keeping financial sustainability would make it so students would get what they need to succeed in their time at KSC.
Nico Brazill can be contacted at
nbrazill@kscequinox.com
