Pomona College’s Budget Planning Advisory Committee (BPAC) held a forum with faculty on Feb. 17 to discuss plans for this year’s budget.

According to BPAC Treasurer Karen Sisson, the committee must reduce the budget by $3 million due to a 2008 decline in the college’s endowment. The proposals will be finalized following board meetings on Mar. 5-6.In 2009, $2.2 million was cut from the budget. Some of the reductions came from changes in the dining halls, including the removal of trays, the introduction of reusable take-out boxes, modifications in some entree selections, and the elimination of snack for one day each week. The Advancement Services Office also saved a significant amount of money by transferring most of their paper materials online.

“Probably the most notable [reduction] was through the early retirement plan,” Sisson said. “The college is saving about $1.1 million this year in salary savings from both the early retirements and natural attrition…[of] people who have gone on to other jobs or moved away and we didn’t fill those vacancies.”

This year the BPAC, a group of faculty, administrators including Dean of the College Cecilia Conrad and Dean of Students Miriam Feldblum, and two student representatives, Jed Cullen ‘10 and Kelly Schwartz ‘10, is exploring further ways to cut expenses.

The committee expects to save an additional $40,000 through reductions in dining services, most of which are being carried over from last year. Additionally, the committee is considering replacing administrators’ computers less often, cutting Head Sponsor and RA wages, reducing funds for public events, and modifying Orientation Adventure to incorporate more local trips.

Sisson outlined two main areas of expense reduction.

“We’re reducing the legal budget by $200,000. We’re reducing the institutional budget by 100,000,” she said. “The institutional budget is sort of the catch-all budget for things that are done institution-wide that includes … the budget for things like commencement.”

The committee is also looking for budget choices that address Pomona’s goals for sustainability.“One of the areas we’re going to continue to look at is energy-reducing activities,” Sisson said. “We can have a win-win. We can also become more sustainable but save money.”

Recently, a project was undertaken to replace all the light bulbs in residence halls, academic buildings, and administrative offices with energy-efficient T-12 bulbs. These bulbs will create $100,000 in annual savings, and the investment will pay for itself after two years.

Another proposal is to overhaul Haldeman Pool’s heating system and install a $300,000 solar generator.

“That’s one of the things we’re evaluating,” Sisson said. “You have to come up with the cash upfront to generate the savings going forward.”

In general, the college often finds it difficult to pinpoint where energy is wasted, since not all of the buildings are equipped with individual metering systems. The cost of installing such metering systems is currently being evaluated. BPAC might, however, consider some initial small investments, such as better insulation near windows.

Another area of the budget that has been of particular concern to students is the impact the budget will have on Pomona College staff.

“I don’t think anyone’s been singled out for good or for ill,” Sisson said. “Tentatively, we’re planning salary increases for everyone, with the exception of the executive administrative staff, [who will] take a second year of a salary freeze ... There aren’t any reductions planned for the budget in facilities, so I don’t think there should be anything that really impacts [staff].”

Sisson said the possibility of a decrease in funding for retirement plans also exists. Pomona is one the highest contributors to faculty retirement in the Claremont Colleges, as well as among liberal arts colleges nationwide.

Current proposals would create a $2.8 million budget reduction.

Along with the expense cuts, ideas for increases in revenue have also been proposed. The BPAC expects to garner $200,000 through a contract with Middlebury College that would bring a summer language immersion program for high school students to Pomona.

The college may also consider moving some funds from the unrestricted budget into the restricted budget. In other words, programs that are normally paid for with regular funding could be funded with money the college has been given and held for a period of time but has been unable to spend.

This applies to “endowed faculty chairs that are empty,” according to Sisson. “So, as you name professors to those chairs, their salaries move from the unrestricted pot to the restricted pot, and we think that’s going to generate about 600,000 in unrestricted funds.”

Additionally, Pomona only spends a percentage of each year’s revenue on the operating budget for that year. The rest is usually saved for long-term projects such as renovations to academic and residence halls.“It’s conservative not to count on all that revenue,” Sisson said, “but given the challenges we’re facing and the fact that we really don’t want to impact our core programs … we’re going to move some of that revenue into the operating budget.”

All of these ideas will be brought before the board at meetings on Mar. 5-6, after which the BPAC will likely meet again and potentially hold a forum with students or staff, depending on the amount of interest shown. Last year, BPAC organized a meeting with the ASPC Senate, and they are considering holding a similar conference this year.