In light of a projected $15 million budget shortfall, Western Kentucky University is looking to its divisions’ reserve funds to balance its budget. But WKU’s student-run newspaper is voicing its displeasure at giving up reserve money generated by students’ advertising sales.

Andrew Henderson, editor-in-chief of WKU’s College Heights Herald, pushed back against the move in an opinion piece published Tuesday on the Herald’s website.

“WKU stole half of the College Heights Herald’s reserve funds, amounting to more than $50,000,” Henderson wrote, referring to an original amount of $101,000 left in the reserve fund when the previous fiscal year ended June 30.

Henderson continued to describe WKU’s move as theft, likening it to a “pickpocket” stealing a wallet.

“The money put in our reserves was put there over the years by the hard work of students, not through tuition, fees or other surcharges,” Henderson wrote. “Our funds are not like the unspent state allocated money you might find in others. Ours is the direct result of student work.”

According to a statement from university spokesman Bob Skipper, WKU’s administration changed a policy in March under then-President Gary Ransdell that had allowed revenue-generating units to keep 100 percent of any unspent funds from the previous year.

The new policy, Skipper said, allows unit administrators to request exceptions for “equipment, construction and vehicle reserves.”

He added that the university is allocating $11 million of carry forward funding from the previous year to balance the current year’s budget.

“That $11 million represents a real decline in revenues to cover recurring expenses, in essence creating a structural imbalance in WKU’s total budget,” Skipper said in the statement. “The budget shortfall is due to declines in student enrollment.”

In October, WKU President Timothy Caboni responded to enrollment data that showed declines for international and full-time students and said declining enrollment is contributing to a roughly $15 budget shortfall.

“We can fix some portion of this with retention and recruitment,” he told reporters at the time, following a board of regents meeting. “We may not have to cover the totality of that.”

In his opinion piece, Henderson noted that the Herald and WKU remain locked in a legal battle over an open records request the newspaper made for university sexual misconduct investigations.

In his statement, Skipper responded to Henderson’s commentary and denied that the move represents any kind of retaliation against the paper.

“The (College Heights) Herald’s claim that funds have been stolen or spent is simply inaccurate,” Skipper said. “To characterize the University as a ‘thief’ or ‘pickpocket’ is an intentional effort by the Herald editor to sensationalize a story. There is no attempt to bankrupt the Herald as claimed, and the Herald has not been singled out because of any editorial stance it has taken or any story it has reported.”

Skipper added that the student newspaper’s remaining carry forward funds “could be released to the Herald upon final determination the university’s financial position given spring enrollment and tuition revenues.”

Henderson clarified his position in a followup interview.

“I don’t think it was a direct retaliation,” he said of the move in light of the lawsuit.

Henderson said the Herald’s reserve funds go toward equipment replacements and upgrades. While he can sympathize with other university divisions in the same situation, Henderson said the student newspaper’s reserve “are funds that have been raised on the backs of students.”

In his statement, Skipper said the newspaper has enjoyed a generous reserve fund that no other university department enjoys.

“The five-year average budget for the Herald is $178,200. Its annual carry forward has averaged $165,732 during that same period. That amounts to a ‘rainy day’ fund of 94 percent of total budget, a luxury which no business entity or other university department enjoys.

“In addition, over the last decade the Herald has carried a six-figure reserve fund each year which it has not needed to spend. At the end of last fiscal year, the Herald budget shows that it spent just over $45,000 on capital expenditures, including the purchase of a vehicle. Still, their total unspent budget at the end of last fiscal year was in excess of $100,000.”

Skipper also responded to Henderson’s contention that the College Heights Herald “receives no support from the university for printing, student pay or a wide variety of other costs” and that it raised the funds from donors to build the Adams-Whitaker Student Publications Building.

“In reality, the Herald and Talisman do receive funds from the University to subsidize annual operations, including salaries for the director, advisers and support staff. The total annual university allocation for Student Publications, which includes both the Herald and the Talisman, is $500,371.

“The Herald asserts that it raised all the funds from alumni and donors to build the Adams-Whitaker Student Publications Building, which houses the Herald and the Talisman. This ignores the fact that University philanthropy staff engaged in the fundraising effort on behalf of the Herald and Talisman, and that in fact, the University expended $1 million for the construction in addition to the $730,000 raised in private funds. The total cost of the project was $1,730,000. The University also covers the annual maintenance and utilities for the Student Publications Building as it does for other campus buildings.”

Henderson said students have been discussing a number of cost-saving options, including reducing the paper’s print schedule from twice to once a week.

“Everything’s sort of on the table,” he said.

Skipper reiterated the economic realities behind the decision.

“WKU is proud of its mission as a student-centered, applied-research university, and the Herald and Talisman are valuable laboratories for student learning and engagement. Indeed, the University and its alumni take pride in the award-winning publications. However, economic realities are just that – realities. And while the needs of individual units are considered, University administrators are obligated to weigh the needs of the entire university when making decisions.”