OP-ED Explaining the comprehensive fee

Author: Caroline Woodworth

To shed more light on the recommendation provided by the Comprehensive Fee Committee regarding the price tag on a Middlebury education, we, as a committee, felt obligated to further explain our decision-making process. Firstly, however, we would like to explain the procedures under which we operated for the months of January and February. The committee of 11 students was established in November, and then subsequently broken into pairs and assigned specific budget segments to investigate (i.e. Student Services, Academic and Instructional Support, Auxiliary Services, Institutional Support, Library and Information Services, Maintenance and Operations). In working closely with budget administrators, the committee members had the opportunity to better understand the current cost structure, as well as future cost reducing opportunities for their specific divisions. We then released two all-campus surveys that sought to provide insight into the more intricate underpinnings of student life on campus, garnering over 720 unique results. Finally, compiling all of the investigative studies, we presented "Taking Initiative: Maintaining Core Values of Middlebury" to the Board of Trustees on Feb. 19, 2009.

As for our recommendation, the preliminary discussion factored in two key metrics: the Inflation Index for Higher Education, 3.6 percent for 2010, and the increase of the comprehensive fee for FY09, 4.9 percent. We used these parameters to frame our discussion, supplemented by specific information of budget segments collected by committee members. Our final recommendation of a 4.0 percent increase in the comprehensive fee reflected the tumultuous balancing act between identifying potential areas for budgetary relief and maintaining the core values of Middlebury, while altering the precedent of unsustainable increases to the cost of a Middlebury education.

The current fiscal challenges facing Middlebury cannot be overlooked and they present obstacles that run the risk of affecting future generations of Middlebury students. The Committee believes that the undergraduate population has an obligation to assist the College in bringing its finances back into balance through a reduction in services and an increase in fees. The deficit created by the losses in the endowment and declined levels of alumni giving have generated an urgent pressure on the College to reevaluate its cost structure. Since the comprehensive fee supplies the College with 54 percent of its overall annual revenue (FY09), we believe that an increase in the fee for the upcoming year would be the most prudent and accountable response from the student body. The report also provided the trustees with several cost-saving recommendations such as removing campus room phones, reducing menu options at The Grille and reducing the programming budget of the commons.

As the counterpart to budget relief, we also addressed the core values of Middlebury. Its mission is to provide a world-class educational experience to all its students, both in- and outside the classroom. The diversity of the 2,400 students that fill the dorms, classrooms, playing fields and performance halls from September through May is the lifeblood of the institution, and that fact cannot be forgotten. Maintaining the excellence of our academic integrity and extra-curricular experiences is paramount to the experiences that we as students value. We urged the trustees to consider these reputational attributes as they look forward.

Throughout our discussion, we have been guided by this dichotomy of forces. We recognize the financial situation of the College and purposefully wish to enact an atmosphere of cost cutting. However, we simultaneously encouraged the trustees to reflect on maintaining the core values of Middlebury in our continual pursuit of excellence and distinction. This incredibly difficult task is not enviable, but it grants us the opportunity to truly define ourselves as a community and as a responsive educational institution.

For more information about the committee, or for a copy of the report, please e-mail sgafc@middlebury.edu.