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SLU Trustees Approve Budget, Including Salary Increase and Partial 403(b) Match Restoration

May 10, 2021

Dear members of the Saint Louis University community,

Last Friday, the SLU Board of Trustees held its last meeting of this academic and fiscal year. I am writing to announce the Board approved the FY 22 budget recommended by the administration. The budget includes:

In approving this budget, the trustees affirmed their commitment to and priority of returning some of the pay and benefits that our faculty and staff lost due to the pandemic and its impact on SLU’s financial situation in this fiscal year.

In my presentation to the Board on Friday, I shared again the many ways that the University community acted as OneSLU, quickly changing teaching modalities, following COVID-19 safety guidelines, caring for those who became ill, and completing a full academic year primarily in-person and on campus.

It is my hope —  and the Board’s —  that in the years ahead we can further increase the University’s retirement match back to 10%. That is our goal. To do that we need to return to as much normalcy on campus as possible and continue to contain our costs and grow revenue.

To that end, we shared with the Board very encouraging news about student recruitment for the fall. Provost Mike Lewis and Vice President for Enrollment Management Kathleen Davis reported:

While the board praised these gains, we acknowledged that we must continue to show our prospective students the many reasons why this Jesuit University is the best place for them to receive a rigorous education in a supportive and nurturing environment, that well positions them for success in life and work.

I want to conclude by noting that the trustees were effusive in their praise of the many impressive successes we have had this year, first among them how effectively the University community — our students, staff, faculty and SLUCare personnel — responded to the unprecedented challenges that the pandemic put before us.

As this long academic year draws to a close, we should be proud of all we have accomplished, much of which many thought impossible a year ago. The pandemic tested us and we pulled together and rose to the challenges as OneSLU.

With my appreciation and very best wishes,

Fred P. Pestello, Ph.D.
President