WELS College Out of Funds - Worse, The College President Cannot Spell College!

Posted on the WELS website:

MLC Report – October 2005


I. ENROLLMENT
The official MLC enrollment for the beginning of the 2005-06 school year was 818 of
which 404 are men and 414 are women. 627 are enrolled in Studies in Educational
Ministry and 191 are enrolled in Studies in Pastoral Ministry. They come from 33 states, one commonwealth, and eight foreign countries. Forty of them are married.

Seventy of the 184 freshmen are from prep schools (38%) and 80 are from ALHS’s
(43.5%). Pastor track stats are: Prep schools 24 or 54.5% and ALHS’s 14 or 32%.
Teacher track stats are Prep schools 46 or 33% and ALHS’s 66 or 47%. This is very
close to the historical percentages at MLC, however, the numbers are down
considerably from both sectors.

Enrollment at MLC in the range to 900 to 1000 is essential to maintain the programs
and curriculum either mandated or deemed necessary for the education of its called
workers for the 21st century. This is not a time to be going backward in our enrollment. We all – college, prep schools, ALHS’s, and Lutheran elementary schools need to intensify our efforts at recruiting young men and women for service to the Lord.

Three reasons we are hearing as to why young people may not choose to study for
ministry are:

1. The cost is to (sic) high (room, board and tuition at MLC is $12,400)
2. There won’t be calls available when we graduate
3. The WELS is not healthy and by extension – because WELS is not healthy MLC
is not a viable institution.

II.
MANPOWER
Please confer the MLC Impact Statement

The primary concern for faculty members is how can MLC operate with its immense
deficits in the next two years. In fact, they are hearing from the students that MLC is closing in two years. While these things are on their minds, nonetheless, this has not affected either their teaching or their dedication. The staff at MLC has grown over the years into a cohesive family dedicated to serving the Lord in the commission given them by the WELS – to be the WELS college of ministry.

III. MISSION ADVANCEMENT
The Mission Advancement team is nearly complete. Our Public Relations Director is
William Pekrul who was a former English professor retooled for the job. Our two
Resource Development Directors are James Hahn (DMLC grad, business consultant,
business manager, Thrivant (sic) agent – from Salt Lake City, Utah) and Katherine Tohal (employed half time by planned giving, then half with planned giving and half with MLC, and now full time with MLC). The secretary serving that position, Arlene Stolte, was formerly in the Records Department at MLC. The position still vacant is VP for Mission Advancement. The Governing Board has asked the president of MLC to fill that role for the time being.

The Mission Advancement Advisory Team continues to meet quarterly to brainstorm on
strategies that the Mission Advancement Office might employ in it work.

Gifts are coming in at a record pace – not enough to bridge the variance between
revenue and expenditures, but surely a good sign of what might yet be developed in
time.

We still await a WELS Gift Planning Counselor in New Ulm and assigned to MLC.
Pastor Kurt Lueneburg has accepted the call and we anxiously anticipate his
participation as part of our Mission Advancement Team.

IV. BUDGET
When MLC did its original budgeting for this biennium, it did so anticipating 920
students. We are 100 below that projection which caused a good deal of revision and
rethinking especially in view of the fact that our operating subsidy went from 5.4
million dollars five years ago to .7 million dollars this year. All said and done MLC is anticipating a 1.7 million dollar deficit this fiscal year (and that is after exhausting 1.3 million dollars in spendable reserves which means our savings account is empty) and then a 3.6 million dollar deficit next year providing we don’t have another loss in enrollment.

There are a number of ways we hope to attack this problem in the present fiscal year
(wages, TGP, gifts, redesignation of certain funds), but the next fiscal year will
determine the future of MLC

Our new billing procedures seem to be working. The new procedure calls for one
payment for the semester, two payments per semester, or monthly payments via
automatic withdrawals. Evidence of this is the fact that we are chasing after fewer
students for past due payment. Thus accounts receivable will improve over our already impressive record.

V. CAPITAL PROJECTS
The last bids on the new MLC chapel came in at about 9.2 million dollars (includes full unfinished basement under the chapel, link from classroom building to the student center but excluding organ, spire, seating, and sound system).

Monies available include around 6.8 million in FIC funds and 1.4 million in MLC funds which means we are once again short. Taking into consideration that approximately 1.2 million of the MLC funds are Governing Board designated and may need to be redesignated toward operating expenditures, the chapel project is on hold.

A designated offering for air conditioning for our gym, student center area, locker
rooms, exercise room, and offices has been received and we are in the process of
completing installation of the AC.

Gift money has allowed the creation of a “professors emeriti” room in the library. It will provide space for the emeriti to visit and work while they are on campus.

A grant from the Auxiliary designated for refurbishing the children’s literature room has been used to update the room and to make it more attractive to students.

The ongoing project of refurbishing Concord Hall (one floor per year) has been
completed. This is the first refurbishing since the dormitory was built some 40 years ago.

There are a good many projects which were scheduled through program maintenance
that remain on hold because of the shortage of monies in that BME fund.

Theo. Olsen
MARTIN LUTHER COLELGE (sic)