Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) convened in a closed executive session on Wednesday night in Mills Hall to discuss the College’s operating budget and student perspectives on how financial resources should be allocated.

This week’s meeting was part of a broader BSG effort to amplify student voices in campus budget conversations as the College navigates increasingly complex financial pressures. BSG aims to help identify resource priorities and potential places for improvement across campus operations.

Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer Matt Orlando presented to BSG two weeks ago on the College’s endowment structure and operating budget, explaining how market performance in prior years affects current spending capacity and how rising costs in healthcare and other areas are increasing expenses. In an interview with the Orient, BSG Vice President Harper Stevenson ’27 discussed her takeaways from Orlando’s engagement with BSG.

“There’s a lot of conversation about people saying, ‘Why can’t Bowdoin afford this when the endowment is so big?’” Stevenson said. “There actually are really strict limitations on how much money can come out of the endowment each year to support the operating budget.”

Orlando’s presentation stated that the endowment, which funds half of Bowdoin’s operating budget, draws approximately five percent annually based on the average value over the previous three years. This financial structure means that inflation and rising expenses in areas like healthcare apply pressure to the College’s operations even as the endowment continues to grow.

BSG is now soliciting input from the student body on areas around campus where resources might be underutilized or could be better allocated, aiming to identify opportunities to improve efficiency and preserve the student programs that matter most.

“We’re just starting that discussion to then bring it to the attention of people like [Orlando],” Stevenson said. “So when they do have to start making decisions and moving money around, there’s some idea of where they should look first based on what students are feeling.”

BSG Special Advisor Elliott Ewell ’27 additionally emphasized the intersection between budget concerns and sustainability in an interview with the Orient. He pointed to overheated residence halls and food waste at campus events as potential areas for savings, noting that energy costs represent a significant driver of budget growth.

BSG members are also examining the college’s staffing model. The College employs approximately 1,000 full-time staff and faculty to serve 1,800 students. Ewell highlighted Student Activities as a particularly efficient operation, with just five full-time staff members serving nearly every student on campus.

“Maybe taking that approach—just giving money to students and then making sure they follow the rules—is cheaper for the school than hiring more full-time employees,” Ewell said.

BSG has identified several areas for possible improvement, including the proliferation of mini-grant programs across campus—Stevenson said that BSG members counted at least five different programs in one recent discussion—and whether retiring staff positions need to be refilled or could be consolidated.

“I think one of our recommendations will be, as people retire, looking to see if their roles really need to be filled again or if their work can be consolidated among other people,” Stevenson said.

The discussions, which began over the summer between BSG executive board members and Orlando, have already yielded institutional changes. A new budget committee formed this year includes student representation, with BSG Chair of the Treasury Chase Lenk ’26 serving on the committee.

Stevenson discussed the value of these conversations, especially because she predicts the College will have to make financial changes in the future.

“The budget is going to get a little bit tighter. And that’s just part of the natural rhythm of things. As inflation increases and things like healthcare costs go up, the school has more expenses, and the endowment doesn’t provide as much to cover that. So things are still going to operate normally, but things will get tighter,” Stevenson said.

Stevenson stressed that BSG’s goal in this initiative is to maintain open communication with the College administration while helping students understand the complexities of institutional finances.

“I wish more Bowdoin students knew about the limitations of the endowment and knew how hard people work to balance everything,” Stevenson said.

In an email to the Orient Thursday morning, Stevenson offered a positive characterization of the previous night’s meeting.

“We had a productive conversation, great engagement and came away from it with a plan to move forward,” Stevenson wrote.