While contentious public issues and ongoing financial pressures continue to confront higher education, I am increasingly grateful and proud to be leading this remarkable institution.
Why? Because every strategic step we take and every tactical response we adopt has one purpose for everyone involved: improving the educational experience and well-being of today’s students, and those of tomorrow.
That’s why I was proud to tell a national conference of college admissions counselors last September about the steps we take to attract a diverse applicant pool, from which race-neutral admission decisions yield a diverse student body. And that’s why I was proud to tell the campus community in February that while we will continue to comply with the law, our values will remain unchanged. We are committed to academic excellence, respect and accountability, innovation, sustainability, and equity.
I welcomed the opportunity to join dozens of college and university leaders for a Presidents Summit on Campus Antisemitism, convened by the American Council on Education, Hillel International, and the American Jewish Committee. Our campus has engaged in caring dialogue and careful listening that definitively condemns antisemitism, while also acknowledging the pain endured by the people of Gaza.
Service to the higher education community is a point of pride for IC. It is why I am honored to serve on the board of the Council of Independent Colleges, a national organization that works to support college and university leadership, advance institutional excellence, and enhance public understanding of independent higher education’s contributions to society. I also serve as a board member with the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities, which advocates for private institutions in New York State.
The challenges faced in higher education are also financial. By the time you read this, we will have taken as-of-now indeterminant steps to bring our budget into balance by FY28, after three successive years of planned deficits, which are no longer sustainable. This Budget Resource Planning Initiative will help identify opportunities to achieve short-term stability and long-term strategic and financial resilience.
We owe it to our community to use this opportunity to do more than just balance the budget. This work is not solely focused on cost reduction. 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. We need to invest in faculty and staff salaries.
We need to invest in the physical plant, and in technology. And we are looking at ways to increase and diversify revenue streams, including greater philanthropic support from our alumni and friends.
Every member of Ithaca’s leadership is engaged in this effort, and everyone puts the college’s well-being ahead of individual interests. Through this work we will prepare this institution for generations of future students while achieving our budget goals 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.”