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August 5, 2024

Aiming for long-term tenure, new UHart president Ward focuses on restoring financial stability, enrollment growth

HBJ PHOTO | STEVE LASCHEVER Lawrence P. Ward began his new job as University of Hartford president on July 1.
By Michael Puffer
RELATED: Challenges grow for higher education broadly
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Newly installed University of Hartford President Lawrence P. Ward’s plans for a long tenure are evident following his recent purchase of a house in Hartford’s west end.

But Ward says he knows he must show progress in key focus areas — including growing enrollment, strengthening UHart’s finances and improving campus culture — during his first three-year contract in order to secure another.

“Hartford is home,” said Ward, who grew up in Vernon and has deep family roots in Greater Hartford. “At age 54, when you finally come home, I don’t do that with the intention that I’m headed anywhere else. My focus will be on what do I do over these next three years that earns the confidence of this community and this board to say: ‘We want Larry to be here a bit longer.’”

The University of Hartford has weathered a couple rocky financial years. It was forced to hire a financial consultant in December 2022, after failing to meet the debt service coverage ratio on more than $133.6 million in bonds it used for campus improvements and debt refinancing. The university also discovered it had overstated revenues in reports to bondholders.

The school is back in compliance with bond requirements and has made strides with its finances, but is not entirely out of the woods.

UHart restored its debt service coverage ratio — a key measure of an organization’s ability to repay debt — by tapping $6.5 million from its unrestricted endowment and $3.7 million of endowment investment income, according to an update the school delivered to bondholders in late June.

University leaders have also increased — from 4.5% to 9% — the amount that can be drawn from the school’s $194 million endowment in fiscal 2025.

UHart ran a $17.1 million net operating deficit during the 2021-2022 fiscal year. That shrank to a $7.4 million deficit for the fiscal year that ended June 30. UHart is projecting a $2.6 million deficit for the 2024-2025 fiscal year.

A report by consultant Longhouse Capital Advisors last year blamed UHart’s financial challenges partially on the pandemic’s impact on enrollment and revenues. It also noted budgetary errors that kept the school from making spending adjustments that might have closed a portion of the deficit.

UHart has since improved student retention and experienced an increase in the number of students using dorms and dining commons, which has boosted revenues.

Longhouse also described UHart’s “belt-tightening measures,” including moving its athletics programs from Division I to Division III, and outsourcing facilities maintenance. Longhouse notes competition for students from other universities as an ongoing challenge, forcing UHart to repeatedly offer financial aid in excess of budget predictions.

Financial restoration

Righting UHart’s financial ship is a major priority, Ward acknowledged.

“That’s not something I get to cede to anyone else, whether it’s the chief financial officer or anyone else,” said Ward, who replaced former President Gregory Woodward. “I’m the chief executive of this university, and its financial well-being is priority one. That is enrollment management. That is fiscal management. It’s philanthropy and development and a fair amount of creativity.”

Speaking two weeks into his new job, Ward said he’s focused on building staff confidence, increasing student recruitment and retention, and boosting fundraising from alumni and donors. He also wants to “right-size” the university’s offerings, which will mean strengthening in-demand programs and possibly trimming some that no longer make sense.

Ward said he is talking to staff and students, as well as business and community leaders as he begins to chart a path forward. He has also reached out to college presidents who have confronted similar financial challenges.

“There is a humility that is needed when you step into a college presidency,” Ward said. “The humility is asking others what led to their success. In doing so, you can begin to triangulate your path forward.”

Strong foundations

Ward said he’s confident in UHart’s future, given the school’s diverse, in-demand degree programs, strong faculty and recent improvements.

The university has added new programs in nursing and health professions, aerospace and robotics engineering, digital communications, and sports management, among others.

“We have brought on a number of new programs that are compelling for students and families, and which also prepare our students to add value to the workforce,” Ward said.

In 2019, the university created the Center for Student Success, assigning academic advisors to all first-year and transfer students. That’s helped increase the percentage of freshmen who reach sophomore year from 74% in 2021, to 83% in fall 2023.

Ward said he doesn’t see continual increases in tuition and fees — estimated at $63,607 for the coming school year — as an effective option for closing the nonprofit university’s budget hole. Service cuts would also offer diminishing returns, he noted.

“One of the things that’s very clear is you can’t cut your way into financial stability,” Ward said. “It has to be a combination of fiscal management and also increasing revenue through enrollment and non-tuition sources.”

UHart enrolled 5,916 undergraduate and graduate students in fall 2023. That was up 3% from the previous year, but down from 6,794 full- and part-time students in fall 2019.

Ward said he stressed the need for innovation during a recent meeting with deans and faculty leaders.

“I wanted to be clear there is no going back to the future,” Ward said. “Wherever we take the university, it is going forward. You don’t go back to a time … when our classrooms were full and new students were showing up on our shores in droves. We have to figure out new ways to get in front of learners.”

Strengthening partnerships

Part of the path forward will be continuing partnerships with donors, major employers and even other colleges.

Companies like Stanley Black & Decker, Hartford HealthCare, Pratt & Whitney and Hartford Steam Boiler have been key partners, providing donations, helping mold programs and offering other support, Ward said.

Donald Allan Jr.

This year, for example, Stanley Black & Decker donated $3 million for UHart scholarships to leading students from Greater Hartford. Separately, Stanley Black & Decker CEO and President Donald Allan Jr. — who also chairs UHart’s board of regents — and his wife, Marilyn, donated $600,000 to support the university’s career-readiness programs.

Hartford HealthCare has sponsored a hospital floor simulation to train nursing students and others engaged in health education. It also provides clinical openings for students.

“I do think part of our model and strategy moving forward is being engaged with local employers, to align our offerings with their needs and help shape the teaching and learning environment,” Ward said.

Infrastructure strategy 

In 2019, the university issued $133.6 million in tax-exempt bonds to, among other things, fund $58 million in campus renovations. That included construction of the 60,000-square-foot Francis X. and Nancy Hursey Center for Advanced Engineering and Health Professions. Two years ago, the university issued another $25.5 million in bonds to refurbish its Village Apartments student housing.

This fall, UHart will open a new track and field facility funded by a $1 million gift from board of regents member and investment executive Kevin Grant, along with donations from Stanley Black & Decker, CVS/Aetna, Robinson+Cole and others.

The track and dorms might generate revenue through rentals to outside groups when not in use by the university, Ward said.

Ward said he does not anticipate additional major infrastructure improvements in the near-term, but there could be smaller investments in student-experience enhancements, such as upgrades to dining halls.

The university is also contemplating the sale of property assets, with a “couple parcels” in Bloomfield at the top of the consideration list, he said.

A return home

Ward’s parents grew up in Hartford and now live in Bloomfield. His mother worked as a high school social studies teacher in West Hartford and Vernon, before joining the insurance industry. His father, Fred, ran a home improvement contracting business, and has long been active in the Hartford Jazz Society.

Lawrence Ward attended Rockville High School in Vernon, earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from UConn and a master’s in higher education from the University of Michigan. He earned a doctorate in higher-ed management from the University of Pennsylvania.

Ward most recently served as vice president of learner success and dean of campus life at Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts. He said he was nominated for president vacancies at three Connecticut colleges, but only applied to the UHart job after reading the job description.

“For me, it was about where my experience and skill set and background and strengths can add value,” Ward said. “When I read through the University of Hartford’s leadership profile and got to the end, it felt like a good fit. And then, of course, because it was Hartford, the geography became incredibly important.”

Allan, UHart’s board chair, said Ward is expected to focus on growing enrollment and the endowment, improving the student experience, as well as shoring up the harmony between students, faculty and administration. Financial stability is an important part of the job, but the university is already making gains, Allan noted.

UHart could close its deficit over the next 18 months, he said.

Allan said dozens of candidates were vetted during an “intense” and “robust” search for a new president. Ward’s close connection to the region helped put him over the top, as did his charismatic leadership style and financial acumen, Allan said.

“People are very much drawn to him and how he presents himself,” Allan said. “He really has the civility to connect with a lot of different people, which, frankly, in this world is probably more and more unusual.”

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