Univ. Budget Woes Take Their Toll

Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57 answers his own phone. So does Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III. Sometimes, one of them might answer the phone for the other.

The English Department raises its requirements for the honors program, as some officials cite a shortage of tutors. There are layoffs at the Law School library and in Harvard Dining Services.

The budget crunch has arrived, and it's going to get worse before it gets better.

Acting Dean of the Faculty Henry Rosovsky expects a budget shortfall of about $12 million in the Arts and Sciences next year--several million more than initially planned, according to Vice President for Finance Robert H. Scott.

With the current recession, more families are asking for financial aid, making the undergraduate aid budget under Harvard's need-blind admissions formula "larger than it otherwise would have been," Scott says.

And President Bush's recent proposal to limit federal funding for financial aid could only increase the money crunch.

So, how will Harvard cover the costs?

For starters, the Faculty will tap its own reserves, money left over from previous years, and will have to use non-restricted gifts that might otherwise have gone to other areas.

In addition, the University will further attempt to streamline its administrative spending.

"We've been spending an awful lot of time trying to reduce expenses," Scott says. "And particularly in administrative areas. [we're asking] 'how we can be as cost-effective as possible'? We've got a big program going on in that area."

Clearly, fundraising remains key in trying to keep Harvard in the black.

"Certainly we'll be doing a lot of fundraising," Scott says. "It's a matter of planning how to do that."

"The pressure is on," says Harvard Boston fundraiser Ernest E. Monrad '51. "The donors, they're having a rough time, too."

Monrad says that as the government's share in Harvard's budget has steadily declined--now at about 15 percent--"the need for the endowment is quite clear."

And when President-designate Neil L. Rudenstine takes office July 1, he will have to think of new creative ways to keep the University's many separate parts running smoothly.

Already, Rudenstine has spoken of creating a University-wide fund to help support the struggling graduate schools, but he adds that he does not want to "tax" one institution to give to another.

He says that he forsees a Harvard University that will no longer operate under its traditional "every tub on its own bottom" structure. Rather, he says, it will be more like "every tub on each other's bottom."