Issue date: 8/30/07 Section: News

Joanne Glasser [Click to enlarge]

Joseph Foster [Click to enlarge]

Years ago, Eastern's piggy bank was near starvation. But one woman made sure it was fed.

She left Eastern's chief office, but former university President Joanne Glasser helped pull Eastern out of the financial trenches.

When Glasser became Eastern's president in 2001, the overall budget amounted to nearly $135 million.

If the budget had remained paralyzed at that amount, the university would have been in trouble, said Deborah Newsom, vice president for financial affairs.

"I believe the quality issue would have been impossible to maintain," she said. Enrollment also increased since 2001, which made the budget hike even more necessary.

"When I came here, my marching orders were, we need to bring the university's budget to a level where we can achieve the mission of the university from a financial aspect," Newsom said.

The current budget, at $210 million, represents a $75 million increase from the 2000-2001 budget. But that does not mean Eastern has extra dollars to dole out.

"This is more catch-up for us," Newsom said. "I call this the big rocks, to get beyond everybody worrying about financial struggles."

But even though she helped dig Eastern out of money trouble, Glasser wasn't in the ditch alongside other Eastern officials.

Glasser's role in raising the budget was handing out orders.

"Her role was general guidance and to sign-off on these (measures)," Newsom said.

Glasser was effective in raising a budget that dwindled during other presidents' reign because she made herself knowledgeable of Eastern's money woes by talking to others. Therefore, she understood the nature of the problems and how to fix them, Newsom said.

Still Glasser didn't pull dollar bills out of the air.

Where it came from

Over the past six years, Eastern's sources of funding have changed. The university now gains more money from tuition fees and less from government funds. During the 2000-2001 academic year, the budget was made up of about $67 million from the state and $37 million came from tuition fees.

Now tuition contributes about $10 million more to the budget than government dollars. In fact, the 2006-2007 overall budget receives $86.2 million from tuition and $77.9 million from the state.

So Glasser was forced to raise tuition because of the drop in state funds, Newsom said.

"She would have been more than happy to decrease tuition if the state had played their part," Newsom said. "Did she put the screws to students then leave? No. It was necessary to maintain the quality of the institution."

Tuition increased from $1,193 a semester in 2000-2001 to an estimated $2,841 for a full-time Kentucky resident in 2007.

But while tuition rose, so did Glasser's salary, a move that miffed many students. But Newsom said the salary boost was common among most universities in the state, and it was not correlated with the tuition raise.

"When you're talking about a $210 million budget, the president's raise, relatively speaking, was nothing."

But even though the state is reluctant to fully fund higher education, Glasser did her fair share of probing the government. Her role as lobbyist at the Capitol generated some state funding, and she helped convince legislators to fund the new science building, Newsom said.

Where the money is going

"Glasser made a big effort to promote the building and talk about it to legislators," said James Street, director of capital planning and facilities management. "If she had not been a proponent of the building, it would not be where it is now."

But this year's budget supports more than the future science complex.

The university plans to spend the biggest chunk of money (about $73 million) on instructional support.

In fact, funding for faculty salary and benefits increased by nearly $24 million over the past four years. President Glasser wanted to focus on faculty support, Newsom said.

"If you never gave any raises and just paid the electric bill, everybody would quit," she said. "There would be no growth."

This year's budget also funds academics, the Quality Enhancement Plan, the capital pool, general operations, fixed costs and financial aid.

Financial aid increased by about $13 million since 2005. The amount jumped by almost $3 million from last year.

The 2007-2008 estimated funding for financial aid is $18.6 million, while, in 2001, the university spent $7.1 million on student aid.

Newsom said President Glasser recognized the university's need for financial aid because tuition was on the rise.

While students gripe about financial aid (or the lack thereof), they also hurl complaints at maintenance workers when the air conditioner quits or the sink overflows.

But Street said, under Glasser's administration, Eastern maintenance received as many or more funds than other state universities.

"She recognized the need for maintaining physical plant up-keeps at a higher degree than other presidents," he said.

And part of that recognition stemmed from a reality check Glasser got when she first arrived at Eastern. She was still adjusting to her role as president when a power outage shut down campus for almost a week.

In 2001, the budget allotted no money to deferred maintenance: bigger facility projects, such as heat system installations.

Glasser increased deferred maintenance funds to $5 million, which is a high amount compared to other schools. Still the university's maintenance system needs a total of $25 million, Street said.

But Street said he is not aware of any university that spends that much money on maintenance.

"In an ideal world, that will be what will happen (spending $25 million)," he said. "But that's not a realistic expectation."

It's a matter of priorities. Eastern cannot further raise tuition to account for maintenance costs, Street said.

But not every cent of Eastern's money pays for facilities, student aid, salaries. Some funds are not included in the general budget.

Capital campaign

The capital campaign is a university fundraiser that seeks donations from alumni and friends of Eastern.

When Glasser came to Eastern, she wanted to launch the university's first capital campaign, said Joseph Foster, interim vice president for university advancement.

And that is what she did.

In Fall 2005, Glasser and Eastern's foundation board started the campaign. They established an endowment fund: an account that holds donations and builds interest off them.

For example, if a person donates $1000, the money stays in the endowment and is never withdrawn or spent. The interest dollars are earned from the $1000 are what the university spends.

The goal is to raise $25 million, and Eastern has raised $19 million so far. The university has raised about 75 percent of its goal amount because Glasser established a good reputation among Eastern alumni, Foster said.

"In my opinion, she did a good job of engaging alumni and friends," he said. Glasser was able to gain the trust of alumni because she traveled the country attending countless events that drew alumni.

Money earned from the capital campaign will support faculty research, department events and scholarships. Fifty percent of capital campaign funds are used to boost scholarships, Foster said.

And even though Glasser is gone, Foster said her resignation will not negatively affect the campaign.

"There's always excitement about hiring a new president, any new president," he said. "If we continue to be well-versed that private support is important, the campaign will continue."

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