Finance is focus for town hall meeting

So many members of the University community attended Tuesday morning’s town hall meeting — the third of its kind held this calendar year — that Richardson Auditorium’s upper-level seating was needed to accommodate the audience.

That crowd consisted of people in jeans, sweatshirts and baseball caps as well as people in business suits, and many audience members were motivated to come to the meeting by sheer curiosity. “I’m here to listen and see what they have to say,” said Bill Doan, an employee of the University’s grounds department.

Several audience members took advantage of the chance to ask questions of University administrators throughout the presentation, given by Provost Christopher Eisgruber ’83, Executive Vice President Mark Burstein, Vice President for Finance, Treasurer Carolyn Ainslie and Vice President for Human Resources Lianne Sullivan-Crowley.

Not all of the news at the town hall meeting was positive. Besides discussing high-salary retirement fund contributions, furloughs, snow-emergency pay and holiday pay, the meeting addressed the sobering reality of upcoming layoffs. “Our two-year budget plan will require some layoffs,” Eisgruber noted, adding “there will be fewer than at peer institutions.”

Sullivan-Crowley directed the part of the presentation dealing with severance and layoffs. “We are working really, really hard to make sure that we manage this process with empathy, and individualized, realizing that each situation is unique,” she said. “We will have an individual assigned to every single person who is laid off.”

In response to a question on the possible closure of the University during the winter break, Sullivan-Crowley said that Princeton will continue to be open between Christmas and New Year’s.

“There was some good news,” University employee Dino Palomares said.

“It’s getting a lot more serious,” he noted of the economic downturn and the University’s cutbacks. “There was a lot more concern with layoffs. It’s a big word.”

Palomares, who works on web content for University Services, noted in particular a shift to web-based content, such as newsletters, as part of an effort to reduce costs at Princeton.

The lingering uncertainty in the financial markets prevented the speakers at the town hall from making specific predictions about the University’s financial situation in the near future.

“I can give you very quickly what the bottom line is for this,” Eisgruber noted in his introduction. “On the one hand, there has been real progress. It reflects an enormous amount of work done on this campus. On the other hand, we’ve got a long path ahead of us, and a difficult path ahead of us.”

The town hall speakers commended audience members for their help in accomplishing the University’s financial initiatives. Eisgruber highlighted especially the recently reported endowment drop, which was smaller than had been initially projected.

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He also commended Princeton’s continued growth in spite of the financial pressures of the last year, citing in particular the Bridge Year Program and the expanding neuroscience program. “Princeton is staying in the game,” Eisgruber said, “and it’s very important that we do so.”

Several audience members had attended the past two town hall meetings. Ken Molinaro, who works in the treasurer’s office, called the meetings “very informative,” adding that the question and answer sessions were the most engaging part.

This type of back-and-forth is part of the goal of these meetings, Eisgruber said. “I think these things work better if we have an interaction or an exchange,” he explained.

Having an opportunity to discuss Princeton’s financial future in such a venue is important, audience members said. “You get to see the faces of the administrators, and they’re very open and honest about what’s going on,” Palomares said. “I’m concerned, not necessarily worried.”