Dalton Tevlin and Joshua Ceballos/PantherNOW Staff
The FIU Board of Trustees held a special meeting Wednesday to provide updates on the various challenges the University has dealt with amid the coronavirus pandemic, and some of the costs they will have to face.
The biggest update of the afternoon came from University Chief Financial Officer Kenneth Jessell, who briefed the board on the potential fiscal impact the pandemic will have on the University.
Refunding housing students at the Modesto Maidique and Biscayne Bay Campuses who have gone home will cost the University approximately $4.5 million.
Jessell told PantherNOW that the administration is still calculating exactly how much they owe each student depending on when they left campus. Some students are still on campus but are planning to leave when they find housing, and they will factor into the calculations as well.
Refunds for meal plans will cost FIU about $1.5 million, and the cost for cleaning supplies, safety materials and for online proctoring software like Honorlock and Proctorio totals up to about $3.3 million.
In total, the University will pay out approximately $9.3 million due to COVID-19. Jessell said the Florida Board of Governors is allowing FIU to use “carry-forward dollars” that were saved from previous years to help pay for these expenses.
“Under these extraordinarily unusual times, the BOG is letting us use those dollars to meet those financial needs as a result of COVID-19,” Jessell said.
The refunds will also be partially paid with reserve money from Housing and some other auxiliary funds.
Jessell also advised the board on some potential losses in revenue FIU may see in the coming year.
Namely, because Florida is a state that receives much of its revenue from tourism and hospitality, the virus may cause a significant drop in money for the entire state. If this is the case, FIU may get less funding from the state, amounting to $3.4 million per percentage of funding loss.
If fewer students enroll at the University because of the virus, or fewer out-of-state students who pay more tuition enroll, FIU will lose about $4 million in tuition revenue per percentage decrease.
Other potential revenue losses include a loss of housing throughout the summer if the campus remains closed, lack of athletics ticket sales, parking and business services and other academic auxiliaries, amounting to $10.9 million.
Courtesy of CFO Kenneth Jessell
These are all hypotheticals, stressed Jessell, as there are still many uncertainties regarding the virus.
“A lot of it depends on how long this is going to last,” Jessell said.
He also said that FIU may see more enrollment if the economy slows down and more people seek continued education to get better jobs.
Whether students will see the impacts of these immediate costs or potential revenue losses, Jessell said the University is trying to avoid that outcome, and that so far the student body has shown great resilience during this pandemic.
“We try to make decisions that will see the least impact to students, but It depends on how severe it gets. In 2008 during the Great Recession, students didn’t notice much difference,” Jessell said. “I’m proud of our students because this is not easy for them at all to be halfway through a semester and have this big change, and they’ve all stepped up to the plate.”
President Mark B. Rosenberg praised all departments and how they have handled the transition to remote operations. Saying faculty have gone “above and beyond” to maintain the day to day operations of the university.
Board members, besides Jessell, gave updates on the current status of the University and what potentially lies ahead.
Provost Kenneth Furton updated the board on the pass/fail system that has been implemented for spring students while also praising the university for being “ahead of the game” in terms of remote learning.
Senior Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs Elizabeth Bejar briefed members on the state of programs transitioning to remote learning.
As of March 24th, 84 percent of face-to-face or hybrid courses have made the full transition to remote learning, with 12 percent in remote transitioning, meaning they’re meeting over Zoom during regular class time, and four percent still consulting with the university.
The four percent in remote consulting include students in programs like nursing and education which require in-person internships or clinical placements to fulfill the degree.
There has yet to be a decision as to whether these programs will be postponed and resumed at a later time or cancelled all together.
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