Eisgruber nixes Dillon Gym renovations for immediate future

Correction appended

The Priorities Committee of the Council of the Princeton University Community (CPUC) held its annual public meeting yesterday. Students and faculty talked about various budget issues with the committee, which makes recommendations to President Tilghman.

Among the issues discussed were the renovation of Dillon Gym, the U.S. Senate's proposal for increased mandatory endowment spending, campus global warming initiatives and graduate student stipends.

PriCom meets throughout the fall semester to discuss concerns from a variety of University constituencies before making budget recommendations to the Finance Committee and Board of Trustees next January.

The University also announced yesterday that Vice President for Finance and Treasurer Christopher McCrudden will take on a new role as Tilghman's senior adviser for strategic financial planning. His successor, who has yet to be named, will oversee the University's recently announced five-year capital campaign and its 10-year development plan.

Early in the meeting, USG vice president Josh Weinstein '09 asked University Provost Christopher Eisgruber '83, the committee's chair, about the possible renovation of Dillon Gym mentioned at the CPUC meeting in October.

"We have been doing some things in order to update it," Eisgruber said of the 63-year-old facility. "We've added spinning rooms and made various improvements to make the quality of the space higher. We're continuing to look at making larger changes."

Eisgruber said more significant renovations to Dillon would require a "huge investment" and that the University is currently focusing resources on other areas of athletics, such as playing fields.

"One of the things that we know and hope to address at some point is Dillon Gym, but I really can't make any comments on that right now," he said.

Amadea Britton '08 asked Eisgruber if the University would increase its endowment spending given the high rate of return over the last few years. The endowment's investment return for the 2006-07 fiscal year was 24.7 percent, which is a substantial increase from its 2.2 percent return from 2001-02.

Eisgruber said the University's current annual spending rate is between four and 5.75 percent of the $15.8 billion endowment. These funds account for nearly 45 percent of the University's $1.1 billion budget.

Eisgruber said that the University's trustees regularly review and adjust the University's budget and spending rate.

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"The University operates according to a spending rule that is designed to make sure the University can plan accordingly for the future so we don't have sudden increases [in spending] when the endowment does well and sudden cutbacks when the endowment does poorly," Eisgruber said. "We also look to that spend rule to ensure we're not squandering the endowment so that future generations will be worse, or hoarding it, so future generations will benefit at the expense of current students."

Eisgruber cautioned that an unusually large investment return one year does not mean the same will be true the next year. "Past performance does not guarantee future returns," he said. "There will, in fact, be bad times, for which we have to plan as a University. We try to plan cautiously over a multi-year period."

Representatives from Students United for a Responsible Global Environment (SURGE) were also present to urge administrators to join the other 425 American universities that have committed to climate neutrality by 2050.

"Princeton is in so many respects at the forefront of universities in the U.S., but in terms of climate change we are lagging behind," Daniel Growald '11, a SURGE member, said. "The longer we wait to do something about it, the worse the results will be."

Eisgruber said he and President Tilghman agreed on the importance of climate impact as both a matter of research and University policy, but cautioned against taking action for the sake of action.

"I am skeptical of the quick, symbolic measures," he said. "I'm not sure offsets are a good idea. I'm not convinced they actually reduce the carbon footprint of the institution as opposed to just making a symbolic statement. I don't believe that is the right way to conduct what we do."

Graduate student Clare Sierawski, another member of SURGE, added that the University could begin making changes during the large building projects that will accompany the upcoming capital campaign.

"As an institution, it's really important for us to set a good example," she said. "If we're making new building investments, it'd be a real shame to overlook opportunities that are out there. I really believe that Princeton has a responsibility to put some of those technologies that are out there, that our faculty are working on, to use."

USG President Rob Biederman '08 asked Eisgruber about the committee's decision to increase graduate fellowship stipends by $140,000 total, as opposed to using the money to fund other programs. Graduate students already receive academic grants at a level that is unparalleled by other universities.

"Right now, our graduate stipends are second to none in general," Eisgruber said. "That's where we aim to be. Our graduate students are an indispensable part of intellectual life. Maintaining our competitiveness is not somewhere where I'm interested in falling behind."

Correction

The original headline for this article incorrectly stated that the Priorities Committee is responsible for the postponement of renovations in Dillon Gym. In fact, the Provost's office is in charge of making the decision. The Daily Princetonian regrets the error.