The President's Perspective is a quarterly column in Canisius College Magazine. The following appeared in the winter 2009 issue.
“Strategic” and “Leadership” are two words that get thrown around a lot in business consulting circles. Individuals are urged to make tough strategic decisions and to exhibit outstanding leadership during difficult times.
Strategy and leadership were on display a few months back as the college’s Board of Trustees gathered to discuss the challenging times discussed in our cover story (Adobe Acrobat .pdf). While Board meetings generally consist of committee reports and presentations by members of the administration on various topics, we asked the Trustees to use their meeting to engage in a frank and open discussion about the strategic direction of the college and the priorities we need to maintain as we attempt to navigate these very uncertain economic waters. The results were both encouraging and helpful.
The Trustees were unanimous in their thinking that the college has made tremendous progress in increasing academic quality and that should not be sacrificed simply in the name of meeting budgeted enrollment numbers.
We foresee a difficult period ahead for student recruitment, one in which affordability will be a major concern for our prospective students. This will mean that tuition increases need to be moderated and financial aid will have to be expanded. The Trustees were clear that even in this environment the college needs to continue developing balanced operating budgets to insure that critical needs get funded and costs are contained.
The Trustees believe that key components of a balanced budget are controlling costs and insuring that all unnecessary expenses are eliminated from the budget. They have also directed us to scrutinize all proposed capital expenditures very closely so that additional resources from the college’s operating budget can be devoted to replenishing the endowment.
We have made significant progress in the college’s athletics program over the past five years. The Trustees do not want to retreat from our commitment to athletics and have directed the college to maintain its competitive position for the moment.
These are tall orders during challenging times. The goal of the Trustees, which I firmly endorse, is to emerge from the present difficult economic situation as a stronger college. With the leadership and strategic thinking of our Board, I am confident we can accomplish this.