Fellow Bears:
This morning, the Board of Trustees convened for a public presentation and discussion about the projected financial impact of COVID-19 on UNC’s FY 20 and FY 21 budgets, as well as various measures that are being considered to address projected shortfalls in the months ahead. The financial impact in FY 20 is about $4.5 million and our current projections suggest that we could face an additional $18.5 million revenue shortfall in FY 21—although the actual impact could certainly be better or worse, depending on how things continue to unfold.
As a first measure to begin addressing the projected shortfalls, I announced this morning that I will take a 10% reduction in pay and that a similar 10% reduction will be applied to UNC’s vice presidents and athletic director while we navigate the fallout from COVID-19 and its effects on our university’s budget and operations. While this is the first cost-saving measure I am implementing to respond to the financial hardship our university and community will face, it will not be the last. Although no specific decisions regarding additional budget reductions have been made, I have asked my team to keep all options on the table and will continue to communicate openly with you as we proceed.
The meeting and Q&A session that followed were also recorded and are available to view at unc.link/trustees. If you were unable to join us this morning, I encourage you to watch the presentation online.
We are all in this together. I have heard it said several times in the last few weeks that “tough times do not last, tough people do.” I have faith in the resilience of this Community of Bears and know we will weather this storm together.
Rowing, Not Drifting,
Andy Feinstein
President
