Fellow Bears,
I write today to share an update on the University of Northern Colorado’s financial health and budget outlook and actions we will take to enter the next year with a balanced budget. Over the past seven years, we have worked together to be careful stewards of our resources and preserve our commitment to the success of our students, faculty, and staff. This includes prudent decisions in previous years to eliminate the university’s structural deficit and the resiliency we demonstrated in navigating financial downturns.
In early December, we initiated the FY26 budget planning process by sharing that UNC would again face challenging budget realities and asking administrative and academic leaders to consider budget reduction scenarios. One of the most significant headwinds is continued uncertainty about higher education funding from the state of Colorado given the state’s anticipated significant budget shortfall for the next fiscal year.
As we have learned more in the first weeks of the spring semester about pressures beyond our control, we need to take proactive steps now in anticipation of state funding levels far below our needs and to ensure the long-term health of our university. Effective immediately, we are pausing all efforts planned and underway to fill new and vacant positions. I do not make this decision lightly. It affects plans to fill a number of positions that are important to our strategic priorities. I also recognize the added burden of unfilled positions on our students, faculty, and staff.
Yet, the most prudent decision for our continued collective success is to implement a pause now. My leadership team and I will begin reviewing all requests to fill new and vacant positions. Some searches are likely to proceed as planned with little to no delay. Others may be canceled or paused. I anticipate this guidance will be in effect until at least the end of March.
Over the next two months, the Office of Budget and Financial Planning will continue to work with administrative and academic leaders to refine FY26 budgets, including issuing budget reduction targets. In addition to unit-level budget planning that shares a proportional reduction across divisions, we will also consider scenarios that ensure the university’s financial resources are optimally directed to support UNC’s mission and Rowing, Not Drifting 2030strategic plan.
As I have done since joining UNC, I remain committed to prioritizing university-wide budget conversations and providing transparent and timely communications. Later this week, Provost and Executive Vice President Kirsty Fleming, Vice President for Finance and Administration Dale Pratt, and I will lead budget town halls. The discussions will provide an opportunity to hear updates, learn about planning underway for this fiscal year and the next, and ask any questions you may have.
University Budget Town Hall (in-person)
Wednesday, February 5, 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Campus Commons Multipurpose Hall
Please registerhere
University Budget Town Hall (virtual)
Thursday, February 6, 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Zoom
Please register to receive the Zoom link here
The same content will be covered in both sessions. A recording of the virtual session will be posted following the event.
As we will share in these discussions, the concern about state funding is different than in recent years, when, largely thanks to efforts by the state’s Joint Budget Committee, budget allocations to institutions of higher education were closely aligned with the amount needed to maintain our current levels of service. Heading into FY26, the state of Colorado is facing its own significant challenges with a projected deficit of more than $750 million due primarily to rising Medicaid costs and voter-required spending increases. The budget proposed last November by Governor Polis considered reductions to state personnel funding and across a number of state agencies. Now, as the legislative session is underway, state lawmakers are faced with difficult decisions about budget priorities. Uncertainty at the state level has been amplified in recent weeks by new concerns about federal funding, which both flows to states and directly to institutions of higher education in the form of grants for research and programs.
In addition to state funding, UNC’s primary funding source is revenue from tuition and fees. We celebrated this fall an increase in the number of new, first-time undergraduate and graduate students and record-setting retention and persistence rates. Stabilizing enrollment is encouraging, and I want to thank everyone who has worked to make UNC a welcoming community that places students at the center of all we do. Our “Students First” commitment remains a priority.
Another priority is our continued focus on investing in recruiting and retaining excellent faculty and staff. Compensation increases have been a strategic priority for the university and will continue to be for FY26, with current assumptions including an estimated $4.2 million of additional expenses for compensation rates and related benefit costs. We will also continue to invest in other strategic priorities, including delivering high-quality academic programs that leverage our strengths, align with the interests of our students, and address the most pressing challenges facing our state and beyond; integrating high-impact practices such as service learning, undergraduate research, and internships into curriculum and co-curricular activities; and ensuring all members of our university community are supported and successful.
We continue to partner with other institutions of public higher education in Colorado to advocate for funding that will allow UNC to help students realize their dreams and support the economic prosperity of our state by contributing to a well-educated workforce. I, along with 13 other university chancellors and presidents, sent a letter in December to the Joint Budget Committee requesting funding that would allow us to maintain our current service levels. I testified before the Committee in early January, and tomorrow, I and others will be in Denver for our annual Greeley Day at the Capitol.
I remain confident that UNC is well-positioned for the future, guided by our shared strategic priorities, and I remain hopeful that our advocacy efforts over the next several months will see positive results. We must also work together to position UNC to weather challenges, as we have done before. Thanks to each of you for your dedication and commitment to our collective success.
Sincerely,
Andy Feinstein
President
