The URI contingency fund is only set to support the college for 2 weeks. Photo by Grace DeSanti.
Since the University of Rhode Island’s President, David M. Dooley’s arrival in 2009, URI has formulated a contingency fund for emergency expenses and has utilized extra money from the annual budget to fund student-centered projects.
According to the Director of Budget and Financial Planning, Linda Barrett, Dooley made it a priority for the University to save at least 5 percent of their annual budget in a contingency fund. This fund sits untouched, unless an emergency arises and the University requires immediate funding.
The University’s current unrestricted budget sits at approximately $400 million per fiscal year. The contingency, made up of approximately $20 million, could fund the University for two weeks before completely diminishing, according to Barrett.
“When President Dooley got here 10 or so years ago, we didn’t have anything,” said Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Donald H. DeHayes. “We were all feeling very vulnerable. But now we’re in a position to be able to do what we need to do.”
DeHayes provided examples of times when the contingency fund may need to be utilized. He said that if a snow storm caused intense damage to a building or a roof was severely damaged, they may use some contingency money. Barrett suggested that a flu epidemic may require use of the contingency in order to prevent the outbreak further and distribute treatment. The money is used for one-time emergencies only.
“The National Association of Colleges and University Business Officers [NACUBO] is an organization that most institutions across the country send data to,” Barrett said. “They recommend that institutions have at least 25 percent of their budget, enough to sustain the University for three months, saved in a contingency.”
While URI only has 5 percent saved, they hope to grow the contingency to a higher amount over time.
According to Barrett, the University sometimes underspends their $400 million budget, which could leave them with extra funds to place in the contingency, allowing it to grow to the 5 percent Dooley requested when he arrived at URI.
When faculty and staff members retire or step down mid-year, the budget acquires the remainder of their salary and adds that to the contingency or surplus as well, according to DeHayes.
“If there’s little bit more than the 5 percent, the Senior [Leadership] Team looks at very transformational, strategic things they may want to do,” according to Barrett.
The Senior Leadership Team is comprised of the President, Vice Presidents and a select few high-ranking leaders in administration.
The team has utilized the surplus from the contingency fund to complete “one-time” projects over Dooley’s time at URI.
Some of these expenses have included the active learning classroom in the library; some of the renovations to the Harrington School of Communication and Media in Ranger Hall; the Gender and Sexuality Center; the Public Safety Dispatch Center; an additional on-campus psychologist position in the Counseling Center and adding learning technology to every classroom on campus.
According to DeHayes, the one-time only projects are utilized for special creations only.
“Once you have that money and you spend it, it’s gone,” DeHayes said. “You can’t use it for salaries, you can’t hire people with it because that money won’t be there next year. It’s usually because of vacant positions.”
According to DeHayes, the Senior Leadership Team strives to better the lives of students when deciding on these one-time projects.
“We put students first,” DeHayes said. “What do we think will serve the best interest of students if we can make an investment? The active learning classroom is a great example of that.”
The active learning classroom in the library was created to facilitate learning in a way better for students. It has nine groups of six desks, as well as a whiteboard, flat screen, audio inputs and computer inputs at each group. It has been so popular that three more will be added into the new engineering complex.
The Senior Leadership Team also hired a psychologist for the counseling center. They do not spend the money on professors often. However, according to DeHayes, the need on campus for another psychologist was so great, the University didn’t want to wait until the next fiscal year to add the position.
They used the surplus money to pay the psychologist for the portion of time until the base-dollars, which is the normal funding, kicked in.
For this upcoming year, DeHayes hopes to see more developments in entrepreneurship and innovation. With updates on campus such as the Artificial Intelligence Lab and the Makerspace in the library, DeHayes hopes the Senior Leadership Team will find a place for students from all majors to utilize their entrepreneurship interests at URI. With this, they hope to increase programs and events such as Hack-a-Thons on campus.
However, this is still dependent on faculty vacancies and surplus funds from the budget at the end of the fiscal year.
“The president appropriately really asks us as vice presidents to be strategic,” DeHayes said. “That we really, really be thoughtful and make sure that it’s really well justified. That it serves the core mission of the University, in support of the academic mission and support the quality of student’s lives.”