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February 26, 2009 <br />Mr. James Lehnhoff <br />City of Arden Hills <br />Arden Hills, MN 55112 <br />Dear James: <br />Bruce A. Kunkel <br />Vice President for Campus Services <br />3900 Bethel Drive <br />St. Paul, Minnesota <br />55112-6999 <br />651.638.6431 <br />fax: 651.635.8880 <br />b-kunkel@bethel.edu <br />www.bethel.edu <br />Attached you will find Bethel University's application for an extension on our four <br />modular classrooms located immediately north of the Robertson Center. These <br />classrooms were originally approved by a CUP amendment in April of 2004. It was our <br />plan that the units would be removed once the Commons was completed and replacement <br />classrooms could be built in the vacated spaces. However, we have found that the <br />university is now in a significantly different financial position than we had anticipated. <br />Bethel University, along with the rest of the nation, finds itself in totally uncharted <br />economic territory. This uncharted territory has had a major impact on not only our <br />financial position but also on that of our donors. Many donors who made commitments <br />to the Commons project, our annual fund, as well as other related projects, find <br />themselves unable to fulfill their pledges on the timeline they had anticipated. <br />Historically our donors have had a sterling record in fulfilling their pledges. However, <br />many of them have suffered loses in their portfolios over the past year. We expect that <br />they will once again fulfill their pledges but we are uncertain about the timing. <br />In addition to the challenges faced by our donors we face similar internal challenges. <br />Enrollment, which is a key factor in institutional budgeting, is still unclear for this <br />coming year. Although historically recessions have had a positive impact on college <br />enrollment there is a sense in which this recession is different. Many of our sister schools <br />around the country have already experienced declines in their enrollment. Although we <br />are hopeful about our fall enrollment we do not want to make any overly optimistic <br />assumptions. <br />As we look ahead to our next fiscal year we are taking significant steps to insure that <br />Bethel remains financially healthy. In a move that reflects the seriousness of the current <br />economy, all employees have been informed that salaries will be frozen for this coming <br />year and non-critical positions will not be filled. Other areas of our budget are under <br />similar scrutiny. <br />