City Council approves resolution of intent to assist Birmingham-Southern College’s financial recovery
Today the Birmingham City Council voted to approve a resolution of intent to provide funding to Birmingham-Southern College as the institution works its way back from a period of financial uncertainty.
The resolution of intent does not transfer any funds or establish a dollar amount for the one-time funding agreement. However, based on conversations that took place from the dais and during previous Education Committee Meetings, the leadership at BSC is seeking a commitment of up to $5 million.
The resolution passed 6–1 with the dissenting vote coming from Council President Wardine Alexander, who expressed her support of the institution, but said she would like to see similar investments made into neighborhoods across the city.
The next steps will be for the Mayor and his administrative team to draft a funding agreement, which will include the funding source, the amount of funds to be provided, as well as conditions that must be met by BSC. That will then come before the Council for final approval.
Councilor J.T. Moore, chair of the Council’s Education Committee, said he would like to see more opportunities for service-based learning taking place in schools across the City. “We would love to see Birmingham-Southern become a part of the Birmingham Promise network of schools,” Councilor Moore said. “We want to increase the access that our students have to this institution, and create a more robust partnership with BSC, especially as we look to improve our reading levels in city schools. Their service-based learning model has been a great resource, and we’d like to build on that moving forward.”
Last week, BSC President Daniel Coleman met with the Education Committee and laid out several steps the school has taken to ensure future financial stability. In order to prevent future overspending of their endowment, the college has set up a separate board of trustees to oversee the endowment.
This consists of seven trustees — four appointed by the college, three that are independent. It will take a unanimous vote to spend over 5% of the endowment annually, according to Coleman.
“We’ve been very encouraged by the work that has been done by leadership at BSC as they work their way back to financial stability,” Councilor Moore said. “Our priority is not having a situation where there is an abandoned college campus in the middle of Birmingham. Look at Carraway Hospital to see what that would be like, but on a larger scale. In my opinion, this is a potential investment into the continued success and vibrancy of the surrounding area.”
In June, Governor Kay Ivey signed the bill ( SB278) that created a state loan program for higher education institutions that will extend $30 million in loans to BSC to aid in the financial recovery.
BSC leadership will also be seeking financial commitments from Jefferson County as they look to reach their $200 million fundraising goal over the next several years, a sum largely consisting of private donations.
Here is a copy of the resolution:
