Trustees get good admissions picture; approve a $1.9 billion spending plan

By Jacquie Powers

Cornell President Hunter Rawlings announced that the admissions picture for fall 2002 is excellent, and that faculty and staff salary improvement programs are on track, in his report to members of the Cornell Board of Trustees at their final meetings of the academic year, May 24 and 25 on campus.

The board also approved a $1.9 billion spending plan for the university, including Weill Medical College of Cornell, for 2002-03 and heard encouraging news on progress toward faculty and student diversity.

Cornell Board of Trustees Chair Harold Tanner, second from left, poses with, from left, Chair-Elect Peter C. Meining and Emeritus Chairs Stephen H. Weiss and Austin H. Kiplinger at the dedication of the Robert and Helen Appel Community Commons on North Campus, May 25. Jon Reis Photography

Rawlings said admissions expects to meet the target enrollment of 3,000 for the fall 2002 entering class, with an expected yield rate similar to last fall's.

He noted that two of the biggest colleges, Arts and Sciences and Engineering, had very strong yields this spring.

"Overall I would say admissions is very strong indeed, and I credit some of that to the North Campus Residential Initiative, which is proving to be quite a draw," Rawlings said.

On compensation, Rawlings said the faculty and staff salary improvement programs are among the university's highest priorities. "We have made very significant progress this year," he said.

He noted that faculty salaries increased an average 8 percent overall this year. Because of that increase, salaries in the endowed colleges moved from 90.9 percent to 93.2 percent of their peer average, while salaries in the contract colleges moved from 90.9 to 94.3 percent of the peer average.

Faculty salaries for the coming year are budgeted to increase an average of about 7.8 percent next year, he said, "and we expect to make up even more ground." Staff salaries are budgeted to increase an average of 4.5 percent next year, Rawlings said.

The $1.9 billion spending plan, approved by the trustees for 2002-03, is 6.2 percent more than the $1.8 billion that is forecast in expenditures this year.

Funding for compensation will increase $28 million -- $11 million for faculty and $17 million for staff. In addition, the university plans to invest substantially in three strategic areas over the next five years, including $10 million in information sciences, which includes 10 new faculty positions by 2005-06, $17 million in materials sciences and $400 million in genomics and integrative molecular biology.

Provost Biddy Martin said the 2002-03 State University of New York (SUNY) allocation for the contract colleges is $142.2 million, $300,000 less than this year's allocation. That's because SUNY's allocation system rewards campuses with growing enrollments and Cornell's, by choice, is stable. With the mandated salary increases for next year, that will leave the contract colleges with an $8 million shortfall. That shortfall will be made up by increased tuition, increased indirect cost recoveries, gifts and some of the $58 million in reserves.

Overall revenues for 2002-03 are projected at $2.004 billion, an increase of 5.3 percent over those forecast for the current year, and it is the first revenue projection over $2 billion. The budget includes a 4.5 percent increase in tuition and fees, an expected 5.9 percent increase in unrestricted gifts and an expected 2.9 percent increase in restricted operating gifts from 2001-02, and a projected 1 percent net increase in investment income.

Robert Harris, vice provost for diversity and faculty development, said improvements have been made in faculty and student diversity. "I'm very pleased to report that we've bounced back in our enrollment of African-American students," he said, noting that a total of 646 undergraduate African-American students enrolled in fall 2001 compared with 606 a year ago, for a 6.6 percent increase.

According to Harris' report, "Summary Update: Progress Toward Diversity and Inclusion," the total number of undergraduate minority students increased from 3,677 last year to 3,718 this year, although the percentage of undergraduate minority students decreased slightly, from 27.1 to 26.9 percent. That compares with 23.7 percent in 1991-92.

"I'm also very pleased with the increase over the past year in the percentage of women in the faculty," Harris said. The percentage of women faculty members increased to 23 percent in 2001-02, compared with 16 percent in 1991-92 and 21.9 percent in 2000-01. Harris noted that the growth in the percentage of women faculty came during a time when the size of the faculty was reduced by 6.7 percent.

The percentage of minority faculty increased to 12.6 percent in 2001-02, compared with 8.3 percent in 1991-92 and 12.1 percent in 2000-01.