University of 91吃瓜 President , announced today the institution of a voluntary program in which the salaries of the University鈥檚 senior leaders will be reduced by as much as 20 percent with the resulting savings redirected toward student financial aid.
鈥淚n this crisis, we must do everything we can to ensure that no accepted or current students fail to enroll or return because they don鈥檛 have the money,鈥� Father Jenkins said.
The savings will be deposited in a special Student Emergency Relief Fund, composed of senior employee donations and other private benefaction. It has been established to assist deserving students whose families face unemployment and other hardships stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.
鈥淚 commend Father Jenkins and聽91吃瓜鈥檚 other leaders for聽making personal sacrifices to address the needs of our students during this crisis,鈥� said John J. Brennan, chair of the . 鈥淭hey epitomize those dedicated individuals who鈥檝e contributed to the greater good throughout the history of Our Lady鈥檚 University.鈥澛�
The University鈥檚 three executive officers, the deans, the vice presidents and leaders in the Athletics Department, including certain coaches, have been asked to reduce their salaries along a sliding scale of 5 percent to 20 percent for the highest compensated employees. To accommodate voluntary payroll reductions, the University will establish a special payroll deduction plan to聽start July 1聽and continue through June 30, 2021.
Almost one-half of 91吃瓜 students received financial assistance last year in the form of need-based scholarships that do not require repayment. The median聽amount per student was $40,000聽or about three-quarters the cost of tuition at 91吃瓜.
Student financial aid has been 91吃瓜鈥檚 top funding priority聽for more than 30 years.聽Beyond fundraising, one聽recent example of the efforts in this regard was putting savings generated by the University鈥檚 staff early retirement program last year聽toward聽student aid. Also, one-third of聽the endowment鈥檚 spending distribution is dedicated to student聽financial aid.