Budget crisis: Academy Rector Sophie Béjean responds to the concerns of university presidents in Montpellier

La rectrice d’Académie Sophie Béjean aux côtés d’Anne Fraïsse et du recteur délégué.

Alors que l'Etat demande aux universités de piocher dans leurs réserves pour financer en partie la hausse de la masse salariale, la rectrice d'Académie Sophie Béjean tente de calmer le jeu. 

The presidents of the two Universities of Montpellier, Anne Fraïsse and Philippe Augé, have stepped up to warn about the 2025 budget project: are they right to be worried? ?

All stakeholders are called upon to contribute to the Nation's effort. The Ministry of National Education and Higher Education is rather protected. The measures envisaged consist of asking universities to draw on their reserves or working capital to finance part of the salary and pension increases decided by the State. On a national scale, this represents 4.8 billion euros. Not all universities are in the same situation. Is their cash flow fully available or programmed for investment projects ? The presidents are concerned about the support requested of them, but their reserves come largely from public funding, which is legitimate. Universities are financed 80% to 90% by the State's allocation for public service charges. The rest is made up of their own resources. Building the 2025 budget means making sincere forecasts and projections of revenue and expenditure without yet having the landing of the 2024 budget, which is often more favorable. We can understand the concern of university presidents: will the effort for the Nation requested this year be repeated? ? Some universities do not have the available cash to assume it.

This is the case of Paul-Valéry University, which is the least well-endowed in France ?

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Compared to comparable universities, Paul-Valéry is under-supervised. This situation has been well identified since my arrival. We have supported it with additional resources each year. In 2020-2021, this represented €1.90 million in rebalancing and an additional measure of €500,000. The catch-up plan runs until 2026. The ministry increases its subsidy by an additional €2 million each year. In addition to a basic subsidy that increases each year. The president, for her part, is making a commitment to a prudent trajectory for her institution.

Should the threat of an increase in registration fees be taken seriously? ?

Anne Fraïsse is waving the red flag. We are in constant and calm dialogue with her to support her in building her 2025 budget. Paul-Valéry University deserves to be treated in a special way at the national level given its under-supervision.

What cost-cutting measures should it take: close courses for example? ?

No, not courses, but act on employment. The university manages its payroll. If it creates too many jobs, it is not sustainable. I asked her to be careful.

She claims, however, that she would need 72 more teacher-researchers to catch up with the university just ahead of her.

This is his assessment. I would like to remind you that there was a general inspection mission that assessed the level of support at €2 million/year, which the ministry is respecting exactly. It can defer certain investments, not increase overtime, have a reasonable payroll even if it has to increase its supervision rate.

Is the situation at the University of Montpellier, chaired by Philippe Augé, also critical? ?

The situation of a university is assessed using three criteria. Working capital must be greater than 15 days, cash flow greater than 30 days, and payroll weight less than 83% of the university budget. Montpellier is doing better than Paul-Valéry. My role as rector of the academic region is to protect institutions by obtaining support from the ministry and by countering decisions that would place the institution in an unsustainable situation.

Could the State put part of the assets up for sale? ?

Universities are the assignees of land and buildings. They benefit from the investment program deployed through the State-Region Plan Contract or recovery plans for energy renovation, for example. Multi-year plans invite us to make choices. Among these operations, we pay particular attention to student housing. We will continue to carry out these.

The inauguration of 72 housing units that was to take place this Thursday, December 5 in Boutonnet has been postponed

It was delayed due to the strike and for scheduling reasons. It is a very good operation. Student housing assistance is not just the Crous, it is also the APL for the private sector.

Isn't this new crisis a sign that the way universities are financed needs to change??

The Minister of Higher Education Patrick Hetzel has launched a mission on the economic model of universities. The aim is to see how to improve the distribution of funding between universities to ensure that each benefits from the right supervision rate.