The Board of Trustees elected Dan Blue as chair and approved a $1.8 billion budget for the 2009-2010 fiscal year at its meeting last week, the University announced Friday.
Blue, Law '73, will be the Board's first black chair when he assumes the position July 1. He currently serves as the co-vice chair of the Board of Trustees alongside Richard Wagoner, Trinity '75, a former General Motors chief executive officer. Wagoner was re-elected as vice chair Friday.
A managing partner of the Blue, Stephens and Fellers law firm based in Raleigh and a member of the N.C House of Representatives, Blue formerly served as N.C. speaker of the house. Last week, the Wake County Democratic Party selected Blue to take the place of Democratic state Sen. Vernon Malone of Raleigh, who died in April. Blue will serve out the remainder of Malone's term, which expires in 2010.
"It will be a great transition for Duke," said Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations. "Mr. Blue is very committed to and passionate about the University and about its excellence and success. And his experience in North Carolina government will only help us enhance the University's ability and presence in the state."
Blue has been on the board since 1995 and served as chair of its Budget and Finance Committee, "steering the University through some very challenging times," Schoenfeld added.
The new budget approved by the board is $200 million less than last year's $2 billion budget as part of the University's plan to spread out budget cuts over three years. The budget approved for the 2007-2008 fiscal year was also valued at $1.8 billion.
The University faces numerous challenges in the coming year, Executive Vice President Tallman Trask said. Despite measures to make budgetary cutbacks, several variables remain unclear-such as the number of employees who will accept early retirement incentives.
In March, President Richard Brodhead announced that the University had lost almost a quarter of its endowment and is facing a budget shortfall of $125 million. To offset the deficit, University-wide budget tightening measures are being put in place over the next three years.
Employees making more than $50,000 annually will undergo a salary freeze for the coming fiscal year. Those making less than $50,000 will receive a single $1,000 payment. The University has also instituted a retirement incentive program that changes retirement criteria to include employees who hold 10 or more years of Duke employment or who are 50 years old or older, qualifying hundreds more for early retirement that includes health care benefits and monthly pensions.
Trask noted that the budget is "no longer a document you wrap up in May" and the budget shortfall necessitates cutting additional administrative expenses.
"It's going to get worse before it gets better-we're not out of the woods yet, we have some issues to fix this Fall," Trask said. "If I had to guess, next year will be worse than this year."
The 2009-2010 budget also includes a 3.9 percent increase in undergraduate tuition and fees to $49,895 and a 17.1 percent increase in undergraduate financial aid to $114 million. It shifts the accounting classification of financial aid from an expense to a reduction in revenue. This change cuts the operating budget by about $200 million compared to last year-to a total of about $900 million.
"In the face of this global recession, it is important for us to think creatively and ambitiously about how we can continue to support our most critical priorities, such as continuing to strengthen our faculty and making it possible for any outstanding undergraduate to attend Duke," Provost Peter Lange said in a statement Friday.
Additionally, the budget accounts for a 6.7 percent increase in graduate and professional financial aid. The aid increases were budgeted under the assumption that students and their families would exhibit more need "given the state of the economy," Trask said.
The University is also reassigning internal positions, eliminating vacant spots and cutting back on external hiring, according to its Friday announcement. All new construction is on hold, but planning will continue until Duke can resume breaking ground.
A $10 million place holder, however, has been reserved for Central Campus improvements that are slated to begin this summer, Trask said. Changes to Central include the construction of recreation facilities and an on-campus restaurant.
In other business
The board also resolved to rename the Film/Video/Digital Program as the Program in the Arts of the Moving Image.
"The new Program in Arts of the Moving Image will build on the strengths of the old-the production of film, video and animation as well as film history and critics-by expanding to include the production of innovative moving image arts and the critical study of such new moving image forms," Stanley Abe, interim director of the Film/Video/Digital program, said in a statement Friday.
Additionally, the trustees passed a resolution to recognize sophomore Rebecca Ward for her athletic contributions to the University. She won the 2009 NCAA Championship in women's saber competition and became the second fencer in Duke history to win an NCAA championship. Ward entered Duke last August with two bronze medals in fencing from the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
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