Loyola University • New Orleans • Volume 97 • Issue 21 • March 29, 2019
THE MAROON For a greater Loyola
A projected balanced budget has left the university feeling
Cautiously Optimistic
Looking ahead to the end of the year, administrators foresee a $920,000 surplus By Erin Snodgrass eesnodgr@my.loyno.edu @erinsnod
After three months of financial probation, Paul Pastorek, interim chief operating officer, thinks Loyola’s chances of being taken off of probation, come December, are likely. “I think the true options for us are that we get off of probation – and I think our chances are very good – there is a small possibility we could stay on probation.” Pastorek said. “And I think there is zero chance of anything bad happening.” In December, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges placed Loyola under financial probation as part of the ongoing monitoring of the university’s budget. As the university works to balance the budget, there are a number of requirements Loyola must meet to comply with the association’s conditions for accreditation. Balancing the Budget “We’re tracking very well. We were very pleased at the beginning of this year when we adopted a balanced budget. But, a budget is just a budget,” Pastorek said. “It’s not what actually occurs.” Pastorek spends his days com-
paring how Loyola actually spends money against how they plan to spend money – and he said the actuals and the planned are still matching up well. For the first time in a few years, Loyola is projected to end the fiscal year positively. “We had budgeted to have about a $1.3 million surplus at the end of fiscal year 2019 and right now, we are tracking to about a $920,000 surplus,” Pastorek said. “So, we are a little short, but we are still where we want to be, which is in the plus column.” Pastorek said this is a crucial development, since one of the requirements for being taken off of financial probation, is ending the year with a positive balance. Another condition Loyola is aiming to meet, is a positive balance sheet, which is a snapshot of the university’s finances showing everything the university owes and owns. “Because of our deficits, our balance sheet has been negative for the last few years.” Pastorek said. “Our projected balance sheet will be positive, but we are making some adjustments.” In order to secure that positive balance sheet, Pastorek said the university is looking to convert some university-owned, non-revenue-producing real estate into consistent, revenue-producing estates.
Veritas, Saint Mary’s and the Sacred Heart building on the Broadway campus are three examples Pastorek gave for potential transformations into office spaces or residential real estate. “One of our trustees is well familiar with the real-estate-development business, and he is helping us build a plan that we can actually go to building developers to talk to them about how they might develop these properties which would generate income to the university, in a more sophisticated way,” Pastorek said. Remaining Obstacles Despite Pastorek’s high hopes for the upcoming year, there are still places where Loyola can continue to improve. In an attempt to increase revenue, Loyola began pioneering online classes and programs. However, according the University Budget Committee meeting minutes for Feb. 4, the university did not hit its target for January enrollment. Pastorek however, said the problem had less to do with enrollment, and more with lower than expected revenue. “The enrollment was pretty strong, but the anticipated revenues were based upon an average of two courses being taken during an eightweek period,” Pastorek said.
See BUDGET, page 3
Wolf in the Ring Loyola baller trades sneakers for boxing gloves By Andres Fuentes aafuente@my.loyno.edu
(ABOVE) Computer science junior Joseph Ruzevich fights in the ring versus Quincy Jackson. A look at Friday Night Fights from above.(LEFT) The amature boxing event draws in spectators from across the metro area. (ANDRES FUENTES/The Maroon.
The lights were beaming, the crowd was screaming and the tension was high. A Loyola basketball player competed in his sport, but not in The Den or on any court. Computer science junior Joseph Ruzevich had his chance in the boxing ring, exchanging blows and dodging punches with a local fighter.
See FULL STORY, page 8
Loyola’s grad rates ahead of national numbers By Erin Snodgrass eesnodgr@my.loyno.edu @erinsnod
When freshmen step onto campus, they dream of walking across the stage to grab a diploma. At Loyola, they have generally been doing that more than their peers across the nation. Loyola’s graduation rates have been above average or on par with national six-year completion rates for the last seven years. However, there is still work to be done when comparing Loyola’s graduation rates with its peer group. In general, students graduate at a higher rate when you just look at four-year, private, non-profit universities, and Loyola administrators say they are committed to bridging that gap. The most recent data for both national graduation rates and Loyola graduation rates points toward common trends found in the past seven cohorts of college students, beginning with the cohort of students who began college in 2006 – the fall after Hurricane Katrina. The six-year national graduation rate for all colleges for the cohort of 2012 was 58 percent, according to a study done by the National Clearinghouse Research Center, while Loyola’s cohort of 2012 graduated at a rate of 61 percent, according to the Loyola Fact Book – five percentage points higher. But, the total completion rate for students who studied at private four-year universities and started the same year, was 76 percent – 15 percentage points higher than Loyola’s rate. The same pattern follows for previous years. Cohort Year
National Grad. Rate
Loyola Grad. Rate
4-Year Private Grad. Rate
2011 2010 2009 2008
56.86% 56%
76.04%
54.8%
55%
71.5%
52.9%
66%
69.1%
52.9%
62%
71%
Faye Huie, a research associate at the National Student Clearinghouse who works on the annual completing college report, emphasized the importance of tracking graduation rates to set national benchmarks for institutions to compare and evaluate themselves against. “The educational community has always been, and always will be, interested in outcomes. One of the major goals of post-secondary institutions is to ensure that their students graduate with a degree,” Huie said.
See GRADUATION, page 4