“Fiscal Responsibility Has to be Number One,” says Lynchburg CFO

By Jacob Clavijo | Editor-in-Chief

University of Lynchburg Chief Financial Officer, Price Jett. Photo via University of Lynchburg.

By Jacob Clavijo | Editor-in-Chief

In November, the University of Lynchburg announced that Price Jett would join the administration as the new Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Finance & Operations Services. Jett has a long career in budget management and financial analysis and outlined his financial strategy for the university’s future.

“You have to have good, clear, standard processes in your financial space,” Jett said. “It is the most critical thing in the world.” 

Jett revealed that his five key financial focus areas for the university are fiscal responsibility, yield rate, attrition and retention, innovation, and advancement. By focusing on these areas, the university can improve its financial status and support President Alison Morrison-Shetlar’s vision for a “new Lynchburg.”

“She’s very clear that we don’t want to be just like any other vanilla university,” Jett emphasized. “She’s really setting a path forward for the ‘new’ university.”

In recent months, the university has come under scrutiny following an accreditation warning from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) and speculation that it is in a financial deficit. SACSCOC, the accreditation agency overseeing the university, determined that the institution failed to “operate in a fiscally responsible manner.” 

Jett will ensure that the university complies with SACSCOC’s criteria for financial responsibility when they return in December to conduct a follow-up review. 

As for the university’s exact financial status or potential deficit, Jett declared that it is “probably a little too early for me to say right now.”

Despite ongoing financial struggles, the university still receives substantial financial support from donors. For the 2024 fiscal year, 2,935 donors, including 703 first-time donors, donated over $6.5 million. On Feb. 25, the university announced an alumni donation of over $1 million to support the Lynchburg Fund and the Sidney M. and Pearl H. Bedford Memorial Scholarship Fund.

Jett, who recently worked for the International Missions Board (IMB) as their CFO and VP of Logistics, Finance, Technology, Facilities, and Travel, says he has his sights set on creating a clear vision for financial responsibility that others within the university can get behind.

“In order to do my job well, and that is to lead in the financial space, fiscal responsibility has to be number one,” Jett said. “That comes down to being a good leader who explains to them, ‘here’s where we are and here’s where we’re going.’”

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