Winthrop reduces spending, saves $1.9M after campuswide budget review

Winthrop University officials plan to reduce the school’s spending over the next year by about $1.46 million – a move announced Monday and made possible by a campuswide budget review that then-Acting President Debra Boyd rolled out last fall.

University trustees and new President Dan Mahony say Winthrop is on good financial footing and they hope to use at least $200,000 in this year’s budget to address campus employee salary deficiencies. Later this year, a campus committee formed to study pay inequities will present ideas to Mahony and others on how to improve compensation for faculty and staff members.

The Winthrop Board of Trustees on Monday passed a new budget for the current fiscal year that includes reduced administrative spending, more money for student scholarships, and nearly $672,000 for employee bonuses – something S.C. lawmakers have required this year for state employees making less than $100,000.

The approved spending plan, which is in effect through June 30, 2016, indicates Winthrop officials are not expecting to use the university’s reserve fund this year – a marked difference than in years past.

Last year, Boyd announced Winthrop would scrutinize its budget and find ways to trim expenses and invest in new programs, initiatives and student services. Then, all departments saw 10 percent of their budgets frozen as university officials looked for savings.

Budget documents provided to The Herald by the university on Monday show the spending freeze and review paid off. Winthrop returned nearly $1.9 million to its reserve fund at the end of the 2015 fiscal year – July 1.

The “operating efficiencies” or spending reductions did not come from cutting jobs, student services, or academic programs, officials said.

This earned high praise from several people on the Winthrop board on Monday.

Glenn McCall, chairman of the Winthrop trustee finance committee, said Boyd spent her year as acting president zeroing-in on ways to save money and preparing a balanced budget for the school’s 11th president, Mahony, who took office July 1.

“We do need to build reserves,” McCall said. “We have a number of strategic things we want to do to advance the university.”

Until this year, Winthrop has been one of only three public universities in South Carolina to see its reserve fund decline since 2008 – the height of the recent national economic recession. Some state lawmakers, led by S.C. Rep. John King, D-Rock Hill, asked the South Carolina Legislative Audit Council earlier this year for a review of Winthrop’s recent reserve spending. Audit Council officials declined, saying the agency did not have enough manpower.

McCall said Monday afternoon he’s had his own concerns about Winthrop’s reliance on reserve money in the past. At times, he said, he felt like a kid yelling “fire” to draw attention to the issue.

Now, he said, he believes others understand the importance to move away from spending reserve fund money.

Mahony’s budget presented to trustees at Monday’s board meeting showed conservative growth in student enrollment and less dependence on revenue from the university’s summer school program. The president said Winthrop has “a stable budget and one that we can certainly meet.”

This story was originally published August 24, 2015 at 6:29 PM with the headline "Winthrop reduces spending, saves $1.9M after campuswide budget review."