On Sept. 26, President Alecia DeCoudreaux sent out a memorandum to Mills Faculty containing the latest update on the continued budget restructuring at the College. Included in this memorandum were:
– The information gathered on Stat Day regarding enrollment and retention was “not favorable” for the College as the “overall growth trend” has reversed from the recent years.
– The number of students dropped to 1528, the same amount from 2012, due to smaller incoming classes and lower retention rates of undergrads with 71 percent — a low for Mills.
– Fall 2014’s headcount breakdown is 922 undergraduates and 626 graduate students.
– Fall 2014 has seen a 7.5 percent decrease in undergraduate enrollment and a two percent increase in graduate enrollment — this is a total enrollment decrease of four percent.
– $1.1 million of the $5.5 million deficit has been addressed; however, there is a budget gap that needs to be closed by the 2015 fiscal year that is closer to $3 million instead of the $1.1 million.
– An appointed group, the Academic Budget Reconciliation Team (ABRT), analyzes the budgets from an academic standpoint and works with faculty all across the College to work on closing the budget gap, keeping in mind how to give the best education for students.
– The ABRT is made up of members from the Academic Affairs Budget Committee, faculty from various departments and the President’s Cabinet members.
