Crucial Changes Spotted on AU's Horizon

“Every institution, whether educational or not, must change – must adapt to its environment,” said Charley Edmondson.
In a step towards transparency, Alfred University President Charley Edmondson attended November’s last senate meeting with a grave forecast of events to come. Since the breakdown of credit and loss of faith in Wall Street, the vitality of national, state, and local economies has been the subject residing malignantly in the back of everyone’s minds. Surely the entire nation feels the repercussions of such actions or inaction. It seems that Alfred's purple and gold has not eluded those repercussions.
Despite President Edmondson’s emphasis on the fact that AU’s economic problem is not one of the immediate future, the university will experience the urgency of prudence. Data reported in the 2006 census has led officials at Alfred University to believe that by the year 2017, the prospective AU student recruitment pool will have shrunk by 18.5%.
The university recruits a majority of its students from three New York counties; Monroe, Allegany, and Steuben. Within these counties the population of high school graduates available to the university will have fallen by 23% by 2017. These numbers are based on projections stating that many who find state taxes to be too high or the economy too bleak will emigrate out of New York.
The average household income is expected to fall so slightly as to restrict further the populace comprising those that may realistically be able to attend Alfred University. Finally, due to the economic state of New York, the university can expect multimillion dollar cuts to its funding.
This is not a predicament unique to Alfred University. Private and public institutions big and small throughout New York State either are or will be working to circumnavigate the turbulent economic future in store. Exacerbating the situation is the fact that the quality and density of institutions dedicated to higher education in New York State make New York the most competitive market in the world for recruiting college students.
Charley’s telling of this narrative to the modest congregation at Student Senate was met with stagnant sobriety. In response to what seems to be imminent economic tribulation, the administration established a strategic planning committee. The purpose of this committee is to evaluate the usefulness of every aspect of Alfred University as a fiscally driven institution. This means that every program and individual will be evaluated on a cost versus benefit basis. The ultimate goal of this process, as it must be understood, is preservation.
As president Edmondson explained, the integrity of Alfred University’s mission will not be martyred in the name of self preservation. It is true that we often grow without knowing where such maturation will lead yet we do not yield to the not knowing. In this instance Alfred University cannot yield to an insecure future. It does not have the luxury of respite or relaxation. It must stride briskly forward in the name of perpetuation. However the individual must allow breath enough to ask, "Will this narrative prove to be redemptive or will our successors arrive at Alfred and find themselves wanting what used to be?"