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From:
To:
Date:
Subject:

"Hemphill, Brian" <bhemphill@RADFORD.EDU>

"Carpenter, Joe" <ljcarpenter@RADFORD.EDU>
11/1/2016 2:07:21 PM
Fiscal Year 2018 Budget Reduction

November 1, 2016
Dear Radford Family,
As I shared with you in my initial communication and subsequent conversations since
becoming your president on July 1, 2016, I am deeply committed to excellence,
accountability, transparency and student-centeredness in all that we do at Radford
University. In that spirit and as your president, I want to share with you that I, along with
all Virginia public college and university presidents, received notification from the
Governor's Office earlier today to begin planning for a 7.5 percent reduction for fiscal
year 2018.
Although concerning and unfortunate, this announcement is not entirely unexpected
as the Commonwealth of Virginia has been publicly discussing the budgetary
challenges faced by the state. Such discussion began in the summer months and has
continued as revenue projections have not kept pace with budgets. While the
Commonwealth excluded higher education from across-the-board reductions faced by
other executive branch agencies in FY 2017, it may not be able to do so for FY 2018
given current budgetary projections and today's announcement by the Governor's
Office. Therefore, it is anticipated that the reduction will impact the University's general
fund appropriation after adjusting for student financial aid, which is exempt from the FY
2018 reduction.
The Commonwealth's fiscal challenges were outlined in detail during Radford
University's inaugural Budget Planning Summit, which included student, faculty, and
staff representatives from across the campus. Many of your ideas and inputs, which
were shared during the daylong summit, will be critically important as we develop plans
to facilitate this reduction for the upcoming fiscal year. Such plans will be developed by
Vice President for Finance and Administration Richard Alvarez, who will work in close
consultation with leadership teams of various business units across campus, in order
to meet the governor's guidelines.
Despite this most recent announcement by the Governor's Office, I, along with the
Board of Visitors, the Cabinet, and the Leadership Council, remain sharply focused on
ensuring the quality of the educational experience provided to our students. This
budgetary development will not deter our strategic focus on excellence, nor will it deter
our vision to transform Radford into an innovative, premier university within the
Commonwealth of Virginia and beyond, with a focus on teaching, research and
service.
By working together, I am confident that the Radford family will weather this difficult
budgetary challenge, and we will continue to meet our mission of providing a world11/3/2016

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class living and learning environment for current and future generations of
Highlanders!
With Highlander Pride,

Brian O. Hemphill, Ph.D.

President
@BrianOHemphill

11/3/2016