Spring 2025 University Budget Forum FAQs

The demographic cliff is not uniform across the United States. It's very uneven data from region to region. And in fact, there are some areas of the United States where there is a growth in 18-year-olds. Starting next year, there is going to be a 20 to 25% drop in the number of 18-year-olds coming out of high schools in the Northeast corridor. In Washington state, that figure is going to be down slightly, but the more substantial drop for Washington is not expected until about 2034.  

An important consideration specific to Washington is that only about 45% of those 18-year-old students get any sort of post-secondary credential at all. There's a huge number of students in the pool in Washington that are not part of a college-going culture. This is a pool that the higher ed sector in Washington State can tap more into.

Yes, we are concerned about recent federal proposals that could reduce financial aid opportunities, including subsidized student loans. These programs are essential to ensuring access to higher education for many students. Western is actively engaged in advocacy efforts alongside other public universities in the state to support the preservation of these critical resources. We continue to closely monitor federal developments and their potential impacts on enrollment and university funding through our participation in national higher education organizations. For ongoing updates, please visit Federal Administration Updates | Western Washington University.

To improve student retention, we are entering the second year of the new first-year programs designed to support student success and encourage students to stay at Western. These efforts include expanded support for first-year math, new initiatives focused on developing student study skills, and several peer mentor and peer advisor programs. Additionally, we are using student survey data to help inform the development of a more cohesive and connected advising structure that will help students navigate their academic career paths more effectively.

As a part of the reorganization of Outreach and Continuing Education, Western is implementing a new and restructured programming designed to support the retention and enrollment of BIPOC students, even in the face of budget cuts. These efforts include expanding outreach initiatives to foster a strong college-going culture in traditionally underserved K-12 districts as well as establishing new transfer pathways with community college partners in underserved areas. In addition, we are looking to optimize recruiting scholarships and other financial strategies to help with recruiting efforts for specific populations.

We currently accept more than 92% of applicants, and our focus has been on increasing the number of admitted students who ultimately enroll. We are working on several recruitment and enrollment strategies that encourage students who have not traditionally been college-going (roughly 45% of all high school graduates in Washington state go on to achieve any post-secondary credential). Our efforts are aimed at closing that gap and bringing more students to WWU who may not have previously seen college as an option. 

Furlough options are governed by collective bargaining agreements. Voluntary furloughs remain an option for employees and supervisors to agree to where it makes sense for both parties. More information on voluntary furloughs is available at Voluntary Furloughs | Human Resources | Western Washington University.

University Advancement has been working on multiple strategies to support changing funding for some positions from state fund to advancement funds. Most of our funding that is in endowments is primarily directed to student scholarships and remains directed to student scholarships. Where that plays a role in the budget deficit is how it can make a positive impact in our enrollments overall and continue to support students by bringing them to Western.

Yes – in fact, interest earnings distributions are already included as a funding source for core university functions.

Senior executives did not take pay increases for FY2025, in recognition of the budget situation, and other executives received lower increases than staff and faculty. For other employee types, compensation is governed by collective bargaining agreements and the professional staff compensation plan.

Yes, Western will continue to honor our collective bargaining agreements.

The duration or permanence of appointment reductions, if used, will depend on long-term business needs.

We appreciate the constructive mindset and sentiment. We will continue to honor our collective bargaining agreements as we talk with our union leaders about options for addressing the budget deficit. However, we do not anticipate across-the-board salary reductions.

The deans of each college are working to identify base reductions effective FY2027 (July 1, 2026) for a total of $5 million. In addition, the faculty retirement incentive is expected to generate a further $2 million in savings beginning FY2027. The academic schedule for FY2026 (July 1, 2025) includes $1.5 million in reduced instructional costs. In addition, the schedule for the current year included a roughly $500k reduction in temporary instruction, and over the past two years, more than 30 tenure-track positions have been held. 

How savings from retiring faculty lines will be counted depends on the type and timing of the retirement. Permanent elimination of tenure/tenure-track lines due to resignation or retirement, if completed by December of 2025, can count toward each college’s target reduction. Tenure/tenure-track retirements effective June 2026 and beyond are included in the faculty retirement incentive category and may be managed case-by-case to facilitate planning.

The total reduction is $5 million, which will be achieved by $3.85 million in salary reductions plus the associated benefits (30% of salary). Colleges have been assigned reduction targets as follows:

The distribution is based on a weighted average of percents of total for: tTemp instruction, total operating, FTE faculty (T-TT and NTT), SCH production.

A list of all position reductions made to date as part of the budget is available here: Frequently Asked Questions: Budget Reduction and Reorganization | Human Resources | Western Washington University

The $2.2 million includes both specific savings and areas still being identified. For example, we expect to save a few hundred thousand dollars by consolidating redundant software programs. We're also asking divisions to identify about 10% in non-labor budget reductions. The application to individual departments will vary. Leadership teams will need to find savings thoughtfully to minimize operational impact. While these cuts are smaller than labor-related reductions, they will still be challenging. Importantly, we've excluded academic department operating budgets from these targets, recognizing their long-standing constraints and critical role in instruction.

Where the state provides location-specific funding through a proviso, we are required to maintain that investment. At the same time, Western is exploring how to make the most of these resources by consolidating operational support across all our locations.

Each division has been asked to identify ways in which they can reduce budgets.  However, the reductions have not been proportionately spread. We have tried to ensure that instructional programming is resourced to provide students with a successful academic experience.

In February, when we conducted layoffs, we put considerable thought into how to implement the process as equitably as possible. One decision was allowing employees to take their 30-day notice period at home. This approach was intended to provide consistency across the board and give individuals the time, while still being paid, to focus on their own needs, rather than continuing to support the university during a difficult time.

We did inform staff that we might follow up with phone calls during that period, but the intent behind this approach was rooted in fairness and compassion.

We also conducted an after-action report. We gathered feedback from affected employees and supervisors as well as union representatives. Based on what we learned, we’re working on improving how we communicate expectations more clearly and broadly upfront. We're currently developing supporting materials to ensure a more transparent and structured process moving forward.

That said, we know how hard these decisions are for everyone. None of us want to lay off employees. Unfortunately, with over 85% of our budget tied up in compensation, we have very limited flexibility. Still, we're committed to learning from this experience and making adjustments wherever we can to improve the process.

We are targeting approximately $2 to $3 million in staff reductions in force. Those will be announced in late June or early July. We do not expect the subsequent reduction in force to be as significant as the notice in March 2025.

The reduction in force will be announced in late June or early July.

The reduction in force will be announced in late June or early July. Some reorganizations will be implemented in conjunction with it. No departments are expected to be closed.

Unfortunately, we have minimal flexibility with over 85% of our budget tied up in compensation.

On June 6th, President Randhawa shared with the university community that WWU reached an understanding with Operational Student Employees (OSEs) to address the issues and concerns recently raised by student employees and help ensure greater parity across all student employee positions. Western remains committed to ensuring the OSE roles are supported in meaningful ways, and to supporting OSEs in advancing legislation in the upcoming legislative session to grant formal bargaining rights to operational student employees.

Western’s financial controls continue to evolve. In past years, there was a practice of not fully budgeting known instructional expenditures based on the approved course schedule. That practice accounted for much of the variance between budget and actual expenses. Beginning this year (FY2025), we moved to fully budgeting instruction and building schedules within the budget allocation.

This move did not directly impact the state operating budget deficit. The bulk of the funding ($95,000) was funded by a grant from the Washington State Arts Commission, and the remainder from the Western Gallery, primarily via private funding. Grant and gift funds are restricted and cannot be used to cover other costs.