April 2, 2024

Email communication from President Sarah Bolton to Whitman faculty and staff:

Dear Colleagues,

I hope you are well as the busy spring season is upon us!

I’m writing to share next steps in planning for the budget process we’ll undertake next year. As we shared in January, we want to be as transparent as possible and to answer your questions as we prepare for the collaborative work and decisions that will take place next year. 

We have received a number of questions about the overall trends in the numbers of staff and faculty over the past several years, and about any decisions made in the 2021 Financial Sustainability Review that may have later been reversed or not enacted. We are gathering that information, and will share it with you at the end of this week. Many thanks to all who have shared questions, concerns and ideas!

In addition to sharing those materials, we also want to provide further opportunities for questions and discussion. We’ll have four more open meetings over the course of the remaining weeks of this semester. We are providing some meetings for faculty and staff separately, and some together, so that people can join the conversation in whatever way is best for them.

1. Meeting for faculty: April 11, 4–5 p.m., location TBA

2. Meeting for staff: April 12th, noon–1p.m., location TBA

3. Meeting for staff and faculty: May 8, 8–9 a.m. in Maxey Hall

4. Meeting for staff and faculty: May 9, 4–5 p.m. in Maxey Hall

Those who may need ADA accommodations, including remote access to the meeting, should contact Telara McCullough in Human Resources, who will assist in making appropriate arrangements possible.

We invite your questions in advance of these meetings, as well as during them. Please feel free to send us any questions here. As a reminder, slides from presentations in January and March are available on the President’s budget advisory committee page, here. 

All my best,

Sarah