December 2003

Northwestern’s outlook improves

Northwestern Health Sciences University will end its current fiscal year with a slight surplus and enrollment in its chiropractic program has stabilized, according to Dr. Alfred Traina, NU’s president in his state of the university address to employees.

When Traina took over the presidency in 2001, the university was facing three years of deficit. It now has a balanced budget, which Traina attributed to the work of employees. “This all happened on the backs of the employees,” he said to the more than 200 University employees who gathered on Nov. 20, 2003, to listen to the first employee-only address.

When Traina was hired as president of Northwestern in 2001, he developed a set of seven key initiatives for the University. These included developing a mission, vision and guiding principles to constructing a faculty handbook and curriculum integration. Developing income sources to negate tuition dependence was another goal that has been especially important, he said, because of three consecutive years of budget shortfalls.

Traina reported that enrollment continues to grow in the massage therapy and acupuncture/Oriental medicine programs and has leveled off in chiropractic. This follows the normal curve in higher-education enrollment and further strengthens the need to become less tuition-dependent, said Traina. “I would rather plan on revenue streams now so that when the next dip in enrollment happens in the future we will be prepared,” Dr. Traina explained.

The University established an Office of Development earlier this year, Traina noted, the office is dedicated to increasing corporate sponsorships, developing annual giving, encouraging planned giving and undertaking a capital campaign.

Source: Northwestern Health Sciences University

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