By Emily Salisbury

(Photo of Vice President for Business and Finance John Beckvold)

In the wake of the news that tuition will likely be raised in the future, I went out on behalf of The Phoenix to get more information. Our first plan was to interview John Beckvold.

The first question was to make sure that the number everyone has been hearing is correct. Will tuition raise by 7.9%? 

Beckvold confirmed that 7.9% is the proposed amount, but that he could not confirm if it will be raised by that. The Board of Governors are the only ones able to approve tuition and fees. He added, “Tuition hasn’t been increased in about ten years.”

But why increase tuition in the first place?

According to Beckvold, the school needed to get the budget to break even. When asked if any other avenues were explored before deciding to raise tuition, Beckvold replied, “There was a Cabinet meeting after learning of the deficit to explore ideas on how to get and save money. Tuition was an obvious choice.”

Beckvold also stated that at the beginning of this year the college was at a $1.8 million deficit and after seeing fall enrollment for this year it almost hit $2.2 million.

I also asked about the new student activity fee which Beckvold corrected as a “Student Services fee.”

This fee will go toward services for students outside of the classroom. Things like health, activities, and even mental health services. Beckvold told me that we used to have this fee and somehow it was taken away.

Almost at the end of our interview, I asked Beckvold if he believed that with the tuition increase and the additional fees being added future enrollment will be affected. And though this was not in his field of expertise he happily gave me his opinion on the matter.

“There is no intention of hurting future enrollment,” Beckvold answered. “We may lose a few but this is to help the college in the long run.”

And finally, I asked the big question, the one that everyone has been talking about: Is the college in debt and if so by how much and how did it come to be?

Beckvold was quick to answer, “Yes.”

Beckvold confirmed that the college was in debt, about $37.5 million in debt. It seems crazy. I gulped at the number, but he explained the issue. “The college owns real estate and has refinanced five pieces of debt, and they are on a 30-year repayment plan.

Following up on the question about the debt, I ended the interview in asking if he feared that the college might shut down due to the amount of debt it is in.

He couldn’t give me a direct answer, but he offered up his personal opinion, “I don’t think we’ll be closing down. If we do nothing, maybe, and ignore current finances. We need to increase revenue and decrease expenses.”

Beckvold also stated that Glenville State College has opened up five new faculty positions, and will be replacing adjuncts to build permanent faculty.

The Phoenix was unable to reach Vice President of Enrollment Management and Student Affairs Marty Carver to discuss how the current financial situation of the college might affect future student enrollment.