Proof that optimism is a relative concept: Duke officials are pleased to have a $100 million bduget deficit.
That's because it was $125 million just a year ago. Progress has been made as the university works its way through a three-year plan in hopes of paring that much for the annual operating budget by the end of fiscal 2012.
Here's the story.
Though the recession has brought a halt to new large-scale building projects at Duke, the university is moving forward with some renovations on its lackluster Central Campus.
The university is adding an eatery and common space, two measures aimed at increasing social interaction, campus officials say.
Work will start this summer and cost between $12 million and $15 million. Those funds will come from housing receipts, officials say.
Not that long ago, Duke officials had hoped and expected to be further along in planning and starting the first phase of a new campus along Campus Drive that would house undergraduates and provide new homes for some departments in the humanities.
But the recession has put the stop to that, at least temporarily. But renovations to the existing Central Campus, where 800 undergrads and 200 graduate students live, are still needed since students will still be living there for the foreseeable future, said Michael Schoenfeld, a campus spokesman.
"It's more than a Band-Aid and less than substantial," Schoenfeld said in characterizing this summer's renovation work. "We're still going forward with the planning for the new campus. In the meantime, we have [1,000] people living on Central Campus. They need a more coherent campus. We want to make it a better experience for everybody."
This summer's plans include renovating and relocating Uncle Harry's Store, a Central Campus convenience store. In its place, Duke is putting in a new dining hall with indoor and outdoor seating. Also, the university plans to renovate a series of nearby mill houses to provide a workout room and study and meeting spaces, according to a university news release.
Housing on Central Campus consists of two-story apartments built in the 1970s that don't exactly set a student's heart aflutter with their amenities or perks. Next summer, Duke plans to upgrade the apartments, officials say.
Like other universities, Duke is struggling to deal with the weak economy. It recently announced plans to reduce its workforce by 700 positions, part of an attempt to shave $125 million from its annual operating budget.
Planned construction projects, including the new campus along Campus Drive, are also on hold, though the university is still moving forward with planning and expects to break ground eventually. The new campus is expected to be built slowly over at least two decades.
Spaces at the government trough are filling up fast and the leaders of national higher education associations are moving quickly in hopes of getting a piece of any sort of economic stimulus package that may become available.
Locally, universities are approaching this feeding frenzy with some caution.
Inside Higher Ed has a good breakdown of what many higher ed associations are requesting in bailout money.
Here are some highlights:
• The Association of American Universities, of which Duke and UNC Chapel Hill are members, is asking President-Elect Barack Obama's administration for $1.8 billion for science research and personnel, and $750 million for new science facilities.
Michael Schoenfeld, Duke's vice president for public affairs and government relations, told me that Duke believes in the value of science and would welcome stimulus money that funds the research itself and the people who do it.
"For Duke and research universities, it's more than medical research," he said. "It's energy research, it's defense research. [Research] is a proven source of innovation and economic activity for the country."
For Duke, a private institution, money for facilities isn't as critical an issue, Schoenfeld said, pointing out that public universities would likely benefit more from facilities funding.
• Thirteen national groups that advocate for the rights of students have penned a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi requesting, among other things, an increase in the value of the Pell Grant to $7,000 (the current max is $4,731), more money for federal work-study, and other funding for loan programs. (Note: That letter is the first attachment below)
• About two dozen major public universities have signed a letter put together by the Carnegie Corporation proposing the Higher Education Investment Act. It demands that any stimulus legislation include a signficant investment in the nation's public colleges and universities.
The signatories include many of public higher education's elites — like Texas, Virginia, California, Maryland and the University of Wisconsin system, as well as the American Council on Education, whose president, Molly Corbett Broad, is the UNC system's former chief.
But there are no UNC system campuses on the list. A UNC system spokeswoman told me there are no plans for the UNC system or any of its campuses to join the initiative.
(The second attachment below is the four-page letter detailing the public universities' proposal. The third attachment below is a list of which institutions signed the letter.)
