Dear AU Community,

As part of our continued community engagement on the university budget, we want to follow up on our December update and provide the latest information about the FY24 and FY25 budgets. Discussions in the university budget forums and ongoing engagement with faculty, staff, and students are critical to this work. Thank you for your input, questions, and assistance. Open and transparent dialogue and thoughtful participation across the community on building and implementing budgets that align our resources and our mission and work is vital as we address the shifting landscape affecting all of higher education.

We are continuing to closely track spring 2024 enrollment numbers and our progress against the FY24 budget. As of the end of January, spring graduate enrollments are lower than our targets, which will result in an additional shortfall of approximately $1.3 million. Combining these results with our previous shortfall estimates from the fall, the total budget difference for FY24 is approximately $33 million. Importantly, this shortfall is still manageable if we collectively exercise thoughtful and judicious spending for the remainder of the fiscal year. Examples of expenses to watch closely include, but are not limited to, travel, supplies, and food costs. By carefully managing our expenses and budgets through June, we can address the additional shortfall without the need to implement additional specific budget alignment targets. We have successfully used this approach in the past, and everyone has helped it succeed in meeting our budget needs. Working together, we can address the current budget challenge.

For FY25, thank you to our teams in the schools, colleges, and administrative units for the important work on budget submissions. The submissions will help us complete an FY25 budget that aligns our resources with our mission, our strategic priorities, and our commitment to our students, faculty, and staff.

As a reminder, the FY25 budget will be completed in two parts. The Board of Trustees will consider tuition, fee, and financial aid levels in February and the remainder of the budget in May. We will host additional budget forums this semester, with dates to be announced next month.

Thank you for your continued support and engagement in our budget work, which supports our community as we pursue our core mission of scholarship and learning.

Onward,

Vicky Wilkins 
Acting Provost and Chief Academic Officer

Bronté Burleigh-Jones
CFO, Vice President, and Treasurer