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BY MOLLY WESTON

In print | Published April 29, 2010

Over the course of this semester, we have explored how the college spends its funds and where they come from. In this final column, we’ll explore who makes the crucial decisions about how funds are spent and examine a few final resources for those interested in pursuing more information about the college’s budget.

When it comes to the college’s budget, three organizations are particularly important: the Finance Committee, the Financial Planning Group, and the Board of Managers. Four more groups of people, which sometimes overlap with the previously named groups, are the Audit Subcommitee, the Investment Committee, the Property Committee and the Committee on Investor Responsibility. All of these groups are aided in their work by the Finance Office staff, headed by Vice President for Finance Suzanne P. Welsh, who also serves as the college’s treasurer.

The college’s budget starts with a recommendation from a familiar face: President Chopp. Her recommended budget is reviewed by the Finance Committee, which is also responsible for administering the college’s various trusts and for reviewing the college’s five year plan and major programs (such as the financial aid program). This committee is composed of 10 members of the Board of Managers. At present, all of the members of the Finance Committee are Swarthmore alums, representing graduation years ranging from 1954 to 1978. The current chair of the committee is Thomas E. Spock ’78 and the current vice chair is Richard Barasch ’75.

The Finance Committee, in turn, submits a recommended budget to the full Board of Managers. While most Swarthmore students have heard of the Board of Managers, many have not had the chance to learn much about the group responsible for many of the big decisions affecting Swarthmore. The Board is made up of 34 members who serve in staggered terms and are appointed by the Board itself. It does most of its work through its eight committees: Academic Affairs, Development and Communication, Finance, Investment, Nominating and Governance, Property, Social Responsibility and Student Affairs. In general, the Board operates by consensus (though there have been some notable exceptions, such as the decision to abolish football). The full board meets on campus four times a year, twice in the fall (generally in September and in December) and twice in the spring (generally in February and in May). This year, as in most years, the Board voted to adopt the following fiscal year’s operating budget (which goes into effect in July) at the February meeting.

Just who are these managers? Among current members (including those whose terms will end in May 2010), all but one (former dean and honorary degree recipient Janet Dickerson) are Swarthmore alumni. For comparison to peer schools, four of the 20 non-staff members of Amherst’s Board of Trustees are not alums of Amherst, while all current trustees of Williams College are Williams alums. Swarthmore’s managers represent a broad swath of alums, ranging in graduation year (among non-emeritus members) from Garnet Sages like Bruce Jay Gould ’54 to familiar young alum faces like Danielle Toaltoan ’07. Several members have names familiar to students because they or their families have generously donated to support facilities or programs on campus, such as Jane Lang ’67, Elizabeth H. Scheuer ’75, Giles Kemp ’72 and Frederick W. Kyle ’54.

However, the body is as diverse in its interests as Swarthmore is, with members representing a wide variety of careers and locations. Barbara W. Mather ’65 currently serves as chair and Neil R. Grabois ’57 serves as vice chair. Outside of these 34 members, the board has five emereti members (Julia Lange Hall ’55, Jerome Kohlberg, Jr. ’46, Elizabeth McCormack, Marge Scheuer ’48, and Larry Shane ’56) and two ex officio members (President Chopp and Sabrina Martienez ’92). Long-time Swarthmore patron Eugene M. Lang ’38 serves as the emeritus chair of the board. (In the interest of full disclosure: as a Lang Opportunity Scholar, I have been especially fortunate as a recipient of Lang’s generosity.)

The Financial Planning Group is a temporary and relatively new addition to the team overseeing Swarthmore’s budget, having been created to deal with the impacts of the economic crisis on Swarthmore’s budgets. Its members included Managers, members of the administration, faculty representatives, and Swarthmore staff members. It was this group that recommended both rounds of budget cuts discussed in previous columns in response to the recession’s impact on the college’s bottom line.

Swarthmore’s investments, a key source of Swarthmore’s funds, are overseen by the Investment Committee, which works with the Board of Managers, Finance Office staff, and hired outside consultants. The committee is composed of Swarthmore board members and other alums and advisors and works closely with the administration, particularly Mark Amstutz, the managing director of Swarthmore’s investments, and Lori Ann Johnson, Director of Investment Operations and Assistant Treasurer.

While the Investment Committee does not include student members, the Committee on Investor Responsibility, which was formed in 1997 in response to student requests for more input into college investing policy, does. The Committee on Investor Responsibility advises the Investment Committee on ethical investing policies and abides by voting guidelines that articulate these principles, including those recommended by the Coalition for Socially Responsible Economies, the college’s commitment to equal employment opportunity (with an especially emphatic commitment to protecting LGBTQ individuals) and the International Labor Organization’s Declaration of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. Current students members of this committee are Kun Hee Kim ’11 and Sahiba Gill ’12, whose terms will end at the conclusion of this school year.

Two final groups of people are important for their role in the budget process. First, the Audit Subcommitee of the Finance Committee arranges an annual independent audit of the college’s books and oversees various other college policies to ensure the college’s accounting and finances are being handled appropriately. Its members are all current board members and the current chair is Richard Barasch ’75. Finally, the Property Committee works with the college to oversee the various grounds, equipment, and other properties of the college, including approving and planning all construction or renovation and managing all of the college real estate. David Singleton ’68 serves as the current chair and the committee works closely with Executive Assistant for Facilities and Services Paul Dale, Vice President for Facilities and Services Stuart Hain and Director of Planning and Construction Jane Semler.

While this column may be ending, the stream of information on the college’s budget is not. The college’s Finance Office, headed up by Treasurer Sue Welsh, issues an annual financial report at the end of each fiscal year, as well as numerous other reports, which are published on the office’s website. A report from the Ad Hoc Financial Planning Group, which recommended ways for the college to adjust for the recession, can be found there as well. This site can be accessed from the student dashboard. As a nonprofit, the college is also required to file a 990 tax form each year. This form, which provides greater, if often opaque or confusing, information, can be accessed online at guidestar.org. Finally, students with specific questions or concerns can always contact the appropriate staff or committee members.

It has been a privilege and pleasure to explore the college’s budget with you over the past several weeks. I hope that this column has provided readers with a bit more information about how the college’s budget works and the ways in which we are students are tremendously fortunate to benefit from the generosity of alums and friends of the college.

This column has only scratched the surface of the vast amount there is to know about philanthropy and the college’s budget. I urge all students to educate themselves as much as possible about both the donation and the spending side of the college’s budget and with that education in mind to get involved in the decision-making process. After all, the group that is ultimately most affected by the way the budget breaks down is us, Swarthmore’s students.

Molly is a senior. She can be reached at mweston1@swarthmore.edu.

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