article on UA's finances

[gozips19]

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[zen]

I think we can all agree that it's not good to rest on your laurels and hope to continue being profitable without improving (because your competitors will endeavor to improve themselves), but how aggressive should your growth be?Perhaps, after the Stadium, it should be time for the University to sit back and focus on profitable operations to pay off some of that debt before progressing in the future with more a grandiose vision.I think that's possible, but I think there is probably still one obstacle to continued growth, and that's a lack of room for increased on-campus residency.

[akronzip12345]

"But while Moody's Investors Service changed the financial outlook for the university from ''stable'' to ''negative,'' it did not lower the university's credit rating from A2, which would have affected the interest rate UA would have to pay to borrow the money.UA sought the review of its credit rating on Nov. 27 and was satisfied with Moody's Dec. 16 report.''We are pleased with the rating we received, and we were encouraged by the positive feedback from Moody's analysts following their visit,'' John Case, UA vice president for finance and administration, told UA President Luis Proenza and the trustees by memo."HOW CAN YOU BE PLEASED ABOUT THIS?"Moody's said UA's strengths included its growing enrollment — 10 percent in undergraduates since 2004 — and balanced operating performance."We can lower our standards all we want to get more students the the truth is that the 18yr old population is declining and we won't have the increases for long.I was soo worried about all of our building and spending, while it needed to be done, this is what happens.Also, Akron's 500 million dollar fundraising is turning out to be a joke. Industry standards for fundraising says that you can not consider any fundraising effort that goes over 7 years as a "drive" Akron is counting money from 2000 and hasn't put an end date on it. Also, industry standards say that any pledge of a gift must be paid in 5 years of the pledge. Did you know that Infocision is giving 20 million dollars... over 20 years. Thats 1 million a year... not that much.God I hope they figure things out.

[UAZipster0305]

"But while Moody's Investors Service changed the financial outlook for the university from ''stable'' to ''negative,'' it did not lower the university's credit rating from A2, which would have affected the interest rate UA would have to pay to borrow the money.UA sought the review of its credit rating on Nov. 27 and was satisfied with Moody's Dec. 16 report.''We are pleased with the rating we received, and we were encouraged by the positive feedback from Moody's analysts following their visit,'' John Case, UA vice president for finance and administration, told UA President Luis Proenza and the trustees by memo."HOW CAN YOU BE PLEASED ABOUT THIS?"Moody's said UA's strengths included its growing enrollment — 10 percent in undergraduates since 2004 — and balanced operating performance."We can lower our standards all we want to get more students the the truth is that the 18yr old population is declining and we won't have the increases for long.I was soo worried about all of our building and spending, while it needed to be done, this is what happens.Also, Akron's 500 million dollar fundraising is turning out to be a joke. Industry standards for fundraising says that you can not consider any fundraising effort that goes over 7 years as a "drive" Akron is counting money from 2000 and hasn't put an end date on it. Also, industry standards say that any pledge of a gift must be paid in 5 years of the pledge. Did you know that Infocision is giving 20 million dollars... over 20 years. Thats 1 million a year... not that much.God I hope they figure things out.

Get off the board...it's exceedingly obvious that you aren't a fan of UA even though you might be a student as evident by most of your posts in the past twenty-four hours. You're more of a Can't sympathizer than and UA supporter.I currently attend Pitt and the fundraising campaign here was begun in late 2000 and completed earlier than originally intended. The original goal was $500 million, which was obtained and raised to $1 billion and again, obtained and raised to $2 billion without a definitive time constraint. Universities do this so that no matter what the giving rate, the goal can be accomplished, which is an indication of success (and not failure if there were a set timeframe and the goal was not achieved).http://www.pitt.edu/giving.html

[Blue & Gold]

I think the trustees are betting on InfoCision Stadium to really raise the awareness of UA in the midwest. I think the facility will serve to demarcate Akron as the definitive school in the MAC. The trustees are aggressive and I like that. For as long as I can recall UA has enjoyed exceedingly little good will within the community. Over the next few years I believe we will begin to see that change. I believe the future is very bright for this U. The city of Akron depends upon it.

[akronzip12345]

Why is it that you attack me for being rational. Its easy to be blinded by pride.Pitt can raise money differently than Akron. Pitt is not in anyway comparable to Akron

[zipsfan38]

Why is it that you attack me for being rational. Its easy to be blinded by pride.Pitt can raise money differently than Akron. Pitt is not in anyway comparable to Akron

akronzip12345 we do not attack you for "being rational" we attack you for being ignorant. If you know anything about any industry the standards are constantly changing. Although I am sure Dr. Proenza and his staff would love to have your expertise and knowledge of the fundraising field on hist team. On the University's website they are currently hiring directors of development for several colleges.Let's talk about comparables. With a little searching on the internet I found this site: http://www.cae.org/content/pdf/VSE.2006.To...ts.By.State.pdfand these stats:In 2006, Akron raised the 4th largest amount in the state of Ohio. Here is the top 10.Ohio State University $ 209,912,962University of Cincinnati 70,706,310Case Western Reserve University 66,122,737Miami University 27,749,436University of Akron 25,226,405University of Dayton 21,218,588Kenyon College 19,996,781Bowling Green State University 19,246,542Xavier University 17,435,171Denison University 17,157,025Just the other day the University announced great strides in fundraising:Record Fund-raising Reported at UA in New Fiscal YearAkron, Ohio, Jan. 23, 2008 — The University of Akron is continuing its successful fund-raising efforts after a record-breaking fiscal year 2006-07, the University's Board of Trustees reported at its meeting today. The Board reported giving to the University for July through November 2007 totaled $21.5 million, 76 percent more than the $12.2 million received for the same period of 2006. The number of gifts increased 14.4 percent to 8,616 in July-November 2007, from a total of 7,531 for the same period in 2006. The trend continued into December 2007, closing the University's highest-ever first half of a fiscal year at $26.4 million. These totals continue the University's recent successes — $32,395,043 for fiscal year 2006-07, surpassing the previous record of $27.4 million for 2000-01. The 2006-07 level was an increase of 28 percent from the total of $25,220,009 for the previous fiscal year. An average of $22,976,540 for the recent five-year period was an increase of 41 percent over the previous five-year period. “This continued financial support for our people and programs truly is groundbreaking and gratifying,” UA President Luis M. Proenza says. “The community support speaks well of our recent efforts to transform our campus setting and the outstanding academic pursuits that take place here each day.”