GODDARD COLLEGE ON THE REBOUND AFTER FISCAL CRISIS
PLAINFIELD -- When Dr. Jackson Kytle came to Goddard College for an
interview last year he saw shabby buildings, shutters askew and a college
that looked more like a frontier town than a campus, he said.
Unless trustees raised $215,000, they had been told the college might
miss up to six payrolls. The administration had fired employees and
suspended contracts. And there were rumors of a faculty and staff strike
caused in large part by a forced 5 percent reduction in salary.
There was such a pervasive sense of panic about whether the progressive
liberal arts college in Plainfield would survive that Kytle almost
withdrew from the presidential search, he said.
Those days marked the lowest point to which the college's fortunes
would slide before beginning their slow ascent this year.
During a recent interview Kytle sat in his presidential office overlooking
the flowering campus commons and buildings now undergoing renovation.
Like a proud parent he lauds the college's achievements in the last
year, saying with assurance, "I feel very confident (based on the)
13 months here, that Goddard can run effectively as a small business
for many, many years."
Top administrators have reason to smile about the gains made in the last year.
For the first time in five years, the college ended the fiscal year
with a $250,000 surplus, said Randy Foose, director of finances, who
came to the college last year.
With careful monitoring of spending, the college kept within the
"bare bones" $3.8 million 1990-91 operating budget. And Goddard
exceeded its conservative 1990-91 enrollment figures with a total
of 401 students enrolling in the fall and 369 in the spring,
adding unexpected revenue.
In an aggressive campaign, the board of trustees -- which has new
leadership and new members -- raised the $215,000 needed last summer
to pull the college through its cash-flow crisis.
The 5 percent deduction in pay taken from most staff and faculty
in 1990 has been returned, Suspended contracts were re-issued and
new contracts for 1991-92 are to be awarded this week.
The board of trustees approved a $4.4 million operating budget
for 1991-92. As a measure of caution, the budget, for the first
time in years, includes a $100,000 contingency fund should
emergency money he needed.
The college has spent $30,990 on advertising, and the college's
appearance has become a priority. Nearly $60,000 has been spent
to spruce up the campus buildings and its gardens. Within the
next few years, officials hope to launch a major fund-raising campaign.
Still, Kytle is the first to admit that the institution Royce
Pitkin transformed from a troubled seminary into a college in 1938
is not yet out of trouble and is working to lessen some of the rancor
about how the college is governed.
On campus, turmoil continues about Kytle's appointment -- which ended
in controversy because trustees did not agree with the search
committee's choice -- and his "more conservative style" of leadership.
Kytle makes no bones about his belief that Goddard College is neither
a "student-run college" nor a "Utopian democracy."
"I am trying to strengthen the role of the president," Kytle said,
although he acknowledges that his actions have made some students
concerned that the college, praised for its progressive pograms,
is becoming more traditional.
Mark Seldin, who has attended Goddard for three years, said Kytle's
management style is inappropriate and inconsistent with the school's
mission statement to educate students for democratic living.
He is concerned that students are being "separated from the power
structure" at Goddard College and may become apathetic as a result.
Kytle acknowledges that Goddard's management remains a tumultuous issue.
"Governance at Goddard is a complex, troubled area where much work
remains. Some residential students seek a far more radical governance
plan while other students are growing impatient with the rhetoric
of special interest groups," wrote Kytle in an internal report
to the board of trustees.
"The campus sometimes feels like the Balkans because of the many
separate groups on a small campus," he wrote.
