Themes Suggestion Date Source Estimated Cost to Implement Estimated Annual Maintenance Cost Potential Annual Cost Savings Savings Projected for 2001 - 2002 Impact on Customers? High Med Low Feasible - Yes/No Person Assigned to for Implementation
Bonds 9 Debt Refinancing at lower rates April-01 ECU Staff $13,000 $13,000 Low Done Done.  Savings are not realized in the short run, however a recent re-financing was done which will save $200,000 over the next 15 years
Capital Reductions 121 Put the university building expansion program on hold until there
is enough money to service the indebtedness. We have no student
assistantships projected for this Fall. Laboratory renovations by
Facilites Services are on hold. Class sizes will not decrease and vacant
faculty positions will not be filled;  the qualtiy of the student's
education is endangered by these conditions . New buildings require
additional maintenance and operation staff. These positions are not
secure. Furnishings for new structures are equally unsecured.

East Carolina's reputation as a great University with a small college
atmosphere will not be enhanced by new buildings until those new
buildings can be properly outfitted and staffed. Being far sighted in
terms of overall needs is laudable; being blind to immediate needs is
unexcusable. Available funding is needed for the contact between
students and faculty until the budget shortfall is eliminated.
May-01 ECU Faculty Funds from the UNC Capital Bond program, approved by the voters,  are restricted to construction of the projects provided in the master plan to the State Legislature.  Bonds have been issued with this purpose communicated to investors.   While it is true that support will be needed to handle additional projects and subsequently increases in enrollment, the operating increases will need to be part of budget negotiations in the future as we weather these lean times.
Class Sched 43 Having classes from Monday thru Thursday allowing Monday and Wednesday class to be the same length as Tuesday's and Thursdays.  On Fridays, the University could shut down and save money on electricity and other utilities.   May-01 Students High No The imposition to Students would be greater than any savings
Class Sched 46 Shorten each semester by one or two weeks to realize utility cost savings.  Move the start date for the semester to the end of August.  Adjust the contact time per class (55 minutes instead of 50, 85 minutes instead of 75 minutes), realign the time allocation to offset the smaller number of classes per semester.  Planning would be required for students because of less time between classes, Professors would need to reallocate materials to fit the revised schedule.  May-01 ECU Staff High No The imposition to Students would be greater than any savings
Class Sched 81 Shorten the Length of the Fall and Spring Semesters

 A comparison of the Fall 2001 Academic Calendars for UNC-Chapel Hill and
 ECU reveals the following information: ECU's Fall 2001 semester includes
 2.5 more days (3 if Saturday classes are included) of classes relative
 to the Fall 2001 semester at UNC-Chapel Hill (we start on 8/15/01, end
 on 12/5/01, have the full day of 11/21/01 off, and use two week days on
 our Fall Break, while they start on 8/21/01, end on 12/7/01, use three
 week days on their Fall Break, and have half of 11/21/01 off). Assuming
 the same holds for the Spring 2002 semester, then ECU could cut costs by
 running operations related to holding classes for 5 days less during the
 2001-2002 academic year (and in doing so we would match the length of
 the UNC-Chapel Fall and Spring semesters).
May-01 ECU Faculty High No The Calendar Committee has extended the start date for the Fall 2002 semester to August 20.  This was done to save some utility costs but to also accommodate more construction time without all students on campus.  The imposition to students to modify the schedule for next year would not be worth the added savings
Computers 51 Use refurbished computers from Dell instead of those on State Contract.   May-01 ECU Staff The suggestion was researched, but looking at refurbished systems and the needs of ECU did not make this solution feasible.   (e.g. configurations cannot be modified, ECU gets additional discounts for buying in bulk, E-Commerce will not work, they require extra overhead at the help desk for problems.
Eliminate Services 2 Reduced Housekeeping April-01 ECU Staff Low Yes The plan is being developed by Facilities
Eliminate Services 10 Reduced service hours of units April-01 ECU Staff Certain Auxiliary units are implementing reduced hours to save on utility costs
Eliminate Services 34 Identify services that the campus can do without for the next one to two years. April-01 ECU Staff Housekeeping and certain landscaping actvity are being reviewed
Eliminate Services 42 Cut back on landscaping and activities such as this in favor of maintaining Academic Programs and University Services April-01 Students A plan is being developed 
Eliminate Services 70 Only replace trash can liners every 2-3 weeks unless they need to be replaced before hand. May-01 ECU Staff This will be part of the plan for reduced housekeeping
Eliminate Services 74 Reduce mail to being delivered once per day May-01 ECU Staff Being reviewed by Business Affairs
Energy Conservation 1 Turn Lights out in rooms that are not in use April-01 ECU Staff Energy Conservation Committee
Energy Conservation 4 Make sure Stadium Lights are out when not in use. April-01 Administrative Advisory Team Energy Conservation Committee
Energy Conservation 20 Shut off Hallway lights during the day April-01 ECU Staff Energy Conservation Committee
Energy Conservation 21 Open Windows in the morning and do not use the air conditioning April-01 ECU Staff Energy Conservation Committee
Energy Conservation 25 Turn the lights out if you have window light.  April-01 ECU Staff Energy Conservation Committee
Energy Conservation 32 Turn off not only lights but other elecronic devices (e.g. Computers)…..The suggestion would be to educate the campus on using "sleep" mode on computers and to make it a common sense item that if someone sees that lights or other electronic devices are on, that do not serve a purpose, …they turn them off. April-01 Energy Conservation Committee
Energy Conservation 44  Faculty, staff, and students could turn off lights in unused classrooms and spaces and pick up and take out trash if needed.  May-01 Students Energy Conservation Committee
Energy Conservation 63 Would it be cheaper to have blow dryers rather than paper towels, (no paper, not trash) May-01 ECU Staff Energy Conservation Committee
Energy Conservation 71 Remove some of the florescent tubes in lights so less energy is used and costs can be reduced. May-01 ECU Staff Energy Conservation Committee
Energy Conservation 73 Limit the number of buildings used for summer classes, leaving other buildings closed. May-01 Students Energy Conservation Committee
Energy Conservation 106  Utilities:  in the academic buildings who has the biggest control?  The department chairs, that's who.  What benefit do they accrue if they make sure the lights are turned off, the windows are sealed properly, the toilets are not running, the thermostats are set right, and so on?  The Brody Building could easily pull every third light fixture in the hallways and still have adequate light.  Yet all lights are on all hours.  Reducing the light bill, replacing worn weather stripping, adding putty to loose windows could probably save a substantial percentage of the energy bill. May-01 ECU Faculty Energy Conservation Committee
Energy Conservation 108 Caulk windows in offices and classrooms that are leaking badly (but allow those that do open and close to retain this function; I can feel the breeze passing through in my office during the winter) May-01 ECU Faculty Energy Conservation Committee
Energy Conservation 109 Place stickers on light switches to remind users to turn out the lights (for example, in small restrooms, offices, etc.).  I would be willing to install them on my floor if the stickers are sent to me by campus mail. May-01 ECU Faculty Energy Conservation Committee
Energy Conservation 117 Raise the temperature in the air conditiond buildings on campus (both east and west campus) by 5 degrees fahrehheit.  That would lead to tremendous savings and would still be comfortable May-01 ECU Faculty Energy Conservation Committee
Enrollment 101 Abandon plans to expand student numbers, thus reducing the need for faculty positions and allowing a raising of standards May-01 ECU Faculty Increased enrollment will generate additional revenuesfor the University rather than produce "losses".  These revenues support the addtion of faculty positions and related overhead items such as library expense and administrative costs. The greatest increase in enrollment is not expected until 2004, when we expect the budget situation to have improved.
Enrollment 113 I am deeply concerned about our desire to add nearly 10,000 students in the coming decade.  There is no way, in my opinion, that we can maintain the quality of our programs under these circumstances, especially if additional funding is not likely to materialize.  The newly expanded  Joyner Library, for example, is already at capacity, since the book tower was not funded as part of the bond referendum in the early 1990s.  If we add this many students, and new programs, we shall quickly find ourselves in the kind of situation we faced in the late 1980s, when we belatedly began plans for our addition and renovation project. May-01 ECU Faculty Increased enrollment will generate additional revenuesfor the University rather than produce "losses".  These revenues support the addtion of faculty positions and related overhead items such as library expense and administrative costs. The greatest increase in enrollment is not expected until 2004, when we expect the budget situation to have improved.
Events 37 Department Chairs should provide "prudent but in good taste" events for students for graduation.   April-01 ECU Staff This has been communicated to the Deans and other ECU staff
Facilities 31 GCB is used on Sunday nights for Student Organization meetings, sometimes lights are left on or room is left to be cleaned…..Institute a cleaning fee to the organization if the room is not reasonably cleaned. April-01 The Division of Student Life is pursuing this suggestion and will be implementing.
Fund Raising 41 Generate Additional Gifts and defer expenses to these April-01 Students A large capital campaign is being planned for ECU for the next few years.  This is an on-going goal of the University.  A large portion of these gifts will be "restricted" to scholarships and will not be available for university operations
Incentives 5 Provide Incentive for effective suggestions - Have a small discretionary fund to pay for buttons, have the Chancellor provide a letter, others ideas? April-01 Administrative Advisory Team
Labs 39 Review Lab hours to make sure they are appropriate but prudent during the summer April-01 ECU Staff The need and usage of the 77 labs on campus is being reviewed to determine what is needed and if there are alternatives.
Labs 45 Although Foreign Languages are important, the lab could be closed to save some money. The Majority of the new textbooks have a CD-ROM is similar to a lab tutorial. April-01 Students The need and usage of the 77 labs on campus is being reviewed to determine what is needed and if there are alternatives.
Paper 7 Implement E-Print and eliminate paper reports April-01 ECU Staff In process for administrative system reports
Paper 16 Limit mailings of flyers and publications to staff that desire these. (Use E-Mail) April-01 ECU Staff A field is being added to the database for users to be notified this way to eliminate mailings
Paper 19 Re-use paper (use the back side for drafts of documents or for note pads) April-01 ECU Staff This suggestion is being implemented by various units on campus
Paper 40 All internal communications should either be on e-mail or on plain paper (no printed letterhead, unless embedded in word file) May-01 ECU Staff In Process
Paper 54 Instead of shredding and disposing of patient related documents, can the new incinerator be used? May-01 ECU Staff This is being investigated
Paper 60 Reduce the number of hand-outs made for Students and Staff….use email or consider charging for copies. May-01 ECU Staff This is being investigated
Paper 75 ECU has too many publications.  Eliminate some and have many of the others use email May-01 ECU Staff This is being investigated
Paper 76 Clean-up and expand email system so we know who utilizes email and who does not.  This would be indicated in the database and provide information for substituting e-mail for paper documents. May-01 ECU Staff In process.  Implementation is expected by July.
Paper 96 I would think that the entire UNC system can save money if electronic journal subscriptions were coordinated.  Call it want you want - one big UNC system library that "subscribes" to electronic journals or a reciprocity system: ECU subscribes to journal A, UNC to journal B, NSCU to journal C, and allow reciprocity in access.  I suspect that there are many journals subscribed to by all campuses - coordination could shrink this budget (and _increase_ the pool of available journals). May-01 ECU Faculty The Library is investigating this and having discussions with Faculty.
Paper 125 Could we get major articles from the Reflector and News and Observer and post these on the Web rather than everyone buying a newspaper. July-01 ECU Staff
Patients 14 Benchmark Patient/Clinician ratios in Radiation Oncology to determine if they are appropriate with other clinics (Patient Load has actually increased based on statistics) April-01 ECU Staff Based on information from the SOM, the patient load has increased and is appropriate
Printers 11 Greater use of network printers April-01 ECU Staff Will defer to Information Technology for input
Process 8 Leverage use of Pro-Card. April-01 ECU Staff Additional Pro-cards are being issued and the usage is increasing, there is still some hesitation by users which needs to be addressed
Process 12 Look for duplication of effort and eliminate.  There seems to be considerable duplication of effort and services especially between the Medical Campus and East Campus. April-01 ECU Staff Suggestions from Staff are being solicited
Process 13 Utilize electronic media for processing medical contractual services pay requests    April-01 ECU Staff To be researched
Process 88 How about if we set up our own travel office?  We have so many people traveling all the time, even if we just make what the travel agencies make off of us, we'd make some money.  Then, if we can come up with some deal with US Airways, then that might bring more money.  Right now faculty members go all over to get their tickets.  I also thought that the university can get the frequent flyer miles, then thought it would not be a good idea.  Faculty would then scream and be totally against it.  But if ECU only takes the agency's cut, and things are made easier for the travelers, they should not object May-01 ECU Staff There are many political issues, both internal and external to implement this process and savings would not be generated in the next couple of years.  What we will do is look to use the ProCard for airline travel since better prices can be obtained via the internet.  
Process 92 To save money on expensive searches, seriously consider hiring qualified people from inside the institution for vacant administrative postions. May-01 ECU Faculty This will be communicated to the Chacellor and Vice chancellors
Process 110 Maintain all faculty, committee, etc. meetings to 50 minutes.  That will free up the time I need for applying the stickers to light switches May-01 ECU Faculty This process is up to the managers within the various areas
Process 124 Could we do  "on demand" employee orientation over the internet and save on the personnel needed to conduct the orientation as well as making it simpler to get new employees through their orientation whenever they may start their employment? July-01 ECU Staff Forwarded to Human Resources for Review
Programs - elimination or reduction 102 Reduce the number of professional schools, rationlizing them into a group entity May-01 ECU Faculty This information will be passed on to Academic Affairs for consideration
Purchasing 47 Often the state is forced to buy items on state contract that are higher than items off the state contract  If we want to "save" money, we should be able to purchase items of like quality and cheaper price. April-01 ECU Staff These instances are few and far between. The reason for mandated use of term contracts is 99.9% of time the contract price is best price. The reason you obtain the good contract prices when the State bids it's annual contracts is the bidder offers a low price with the promise of volume purchases from the State. Without this promise it would greatly diminish the purchasing power of the State.
Another thing I have seen over the years is the contract item has a certain quality, construction, warranty, delivery,etc that is not apples to apples with similar products, therefore the lower cost issue is questionable. Example is file cabinets. You can go to Wal-Mart and purchase a two drawer file cabinet for $59.00. The state term contract two drawer unit is $110.00. The Wal-Mart unit has thin gauge steel, cheap roll guides and no delivery. This unit will not hold up in a commercial environment. It is easy to say you can obtain a cheaper file cabinet off state contract, but which unit is the best value for the state????
 For certain commodities that have price fluctuations the state has move to convenience contracts where they have government pricing on such items as pc's, software,etc. If you decide not to purchase off a convenience contract, you may, but must abide by normal bidding procedures. These convenience contracts are very important to us.
In closing, without these term contracts, we still are under public procurement law, therefore, bids would have to be obtained when applicable. This could cause serious delays due to 10 day bid rule.
Purchasing 69 Provide the option to buy items off of State Contract that are cheaper and comparable in quality.  May-01 ECU Staff See above
Recruiting 28 Limit costs incurred for Job Advertising, only use where absolutely needed.   Block Ads are a possibility if there are multiple jobs that need advertising. April-01 ECU Staff Human Resources is reviewing
Recruiting 58 Is it necessary to wine and dine all recruits.  We should be more prudent in this area May-01 ECU Staff Human Resources will inform units
Recycle 33 Recycle more April-01 ECU Staff The cost of re-cycling exceeds the cost of using land fills.  The University will continue to be environmentally conscious, but this would not generate any savings 
Reduction Philosophy 91 Don't cut all programs equally.  If the university is strong in some area it should maintain or enhance this strength.  It is better to eliminate some weak programs altogether than to damage well-established, strong programs. May-01 ECU Faculty This information is considered within the resource allocation process
Reduction Philosophy 93 don't cut core areas of undergraduate education, such as math english, history, biology, etc. May-01 ECU Faculty This information is considered within the resource allocation process
Reduction Philosophy 95 Don't cut revenue generating programs May-01 ECU Faculty This information is considered within the resource allocation process
Reduction Philosophy 97  It is my understanding that the University uses fixed term contracts for faculty that are hired as temporary instructors to replace someone on leave or for very short term positions. It also my understanding that approximately 33-35% of the Division of Health Science faculty are fixed term. My entire Department is fixed term. We are told that since there is no terminal doctorate level degree in Physician Assistant Studies we cannot be tenure track. Our Program is providing health care providers to the residents of North Carolina. We are considered the leader in our profession in distance learning by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation who provided us with a grant to initially get into Distance Learning four years ago. My faculty get very concerned when they hear that as funding gets tighter positions will need to be cut and fixed term will be the first to go.I have an excellent faculty and would hate to see them start job hunting because they feel insecure in their position at ECU. I would ask the budget committee to take into consideration that all fixed term faculty are not short term temporary people. Either that or grant us tenure. Thanks for the opportunity to adress our concerns. May-01 ECU Faculty The administration is sensitive to this issue and given the budget restraints will do all that is possible to minimize the impact on academic programs.
Reduction Philosophy 98 Change he attitude of people: Over the years since the 1930s-1950s, we've become a nation of "consumers" and wasters.  Now it's time to get maximum use of our resources.  We can start at ECU with the small things, which add up.  For example, I often see paperclips, folders, and other usable items thrown in the wastebasket because it's too much trouble to remove and sort them out.  There is a mental attitude among us that can be changed.
I suggest that lists of ways to conserve resources and materials of all types at ECU be made up and widely disseminated.  They can be printed out and placed on bulletin boards, sent electronically to all ECU employees, students, etc., and made readily accessible.  There should be continual publicity and encouragement to save and to think about our actions in terms of conserving resources.
Those of us who lived through World War II know that one of the ways the war was won was through intense conservation of critical resources, and by everyone doing his or her part.  It was a nationwide effort, and it paid off.  That same dedication to cause can happen here at ECU, and it will pay off.
May-01 ECU Faculty We will continue to keep this in mind when sending out educational materials 
Reduction Philosophy 99 Priorities for the university should be justified in terms of teaching, research, service.  If they can't they should be considered "low".  Maintaining current teaching, research, and service capacity should then be the major short term priority.  But a close second should be any new initiatives (including hiring new faculty, travel for professional presentations that are national/international, research proposal development) that are critical elements in maintaining ECU's forward direction through capacity development that results in higher quality/productivity in teaching, research and service.  Following from standards implied from above, I would look toward general administrative and administrative support functions tat are the least related to teaching, research and service as the lowest priorities and therefore, the initial focus of budget cuts.  To do this the best way is to developa context for the frowth of these elements over the past 3-5 years for identification purposes.  Not that all new administrative initiatives are irrelevant of course, but many are truly overdone expensewise. May-01 ECU Faculty The administration is sensitive to this issue and given the budget restraints will do all that is possible to minimize the impact on academic programs.
Reduction Philosophy 100 Make Academics firmly the top priority.  Radically reduce expenditure on the athletics program, cut the number of senior administrators May-01 ECU Faculty The administration is sensitive to this issue and given the budget restraints will do all that is possible to minimize the impact on academic programs.
Reduction Philosophy 104 The UNC system recently reviewed all programs in order to determine under performing (i.e. dead wood) programs for cut or consolidation.  My feeling is that if we can identify such programs at ECU, it is better to cut a whole under performing program out rather than reduce the budget across the board and create an even larger number of under performing programs.   May-01 ECU Faculty The administration is sensitive to this issue and given the budget restraints will do all that is possible to minimize the impact on academic programs.
Reduction Philosophy 112 East Carolina University needs to decide what kind of institution it wants to be.  All of our posturing about becoming a major research institution is meaningless without the funds to back it up.  If it is not likely that we can obtain such funding, then I think we should strive to use our resources to improve the quality of our existing programs.  For example, we have interdisciplinary programs on campus, including the North Carolina Studies Program, that receive no meaningful financial support.  They cannot achieve their potential without more support May-01 ECU Faculty The administration is sensitive to this issue and given the budget restraints will do all that is possible to minimize the impact on academic programs.
Reduction Philosophy 114 The library is the heart of the institution, and serves all programs.  This should be taken into account when budget cuts are considered May-01 ECU Faculty The administration is sensitive to this issue and given the budget restraints will do all that is possible to minimize the impact on academic programs.
Reduction Philosophy 115 I know that I speak for a great number of faculty members when I say that what is going on at the library is ridiculous.  Without student help we have faculty and staff trying to do everything themselves.  From an already ridiculously small periodicals budget, we are discussing deep cuts.  The move to electronic access is fine, but will not solve all of these problems; it will only make human contact with print resources more rare at a time when students need more exposure to such basic research tools.  Now I hear that even our head of interlibrary loan who is retiring will not be replaced because of a hiring freeze.  The library cannot be the first thing cut May-01 ECU Faculty The administration is sensitive to this issue and given the budget restraints will do all that is possible to minimize the impact on academic programs.
Reduction Philosophy 116 The first place to cut should be in our administrative staff.  Every arm of the university has doubled its administrative staff over the last 10 years.  Surely a modest cut in this area is justified.  Beyond that I suggest that what the state legislature expects of us is something more painful and more honest.  It expects us to deduce what our core missions are and to eliminate a few programs and their attendant faculty positions.  This will not be an easy decision, but I think it is what is expected of us.  And frankly it is preferable (so long as it is not my position, of course) to leaving every department shorthanded and the entire university community without a properly functioning library.  How can we make permanent cuts in the university budget in our core missions?  Are class sizes simply to go up?  In my own unit, we are down 3 tenure track slots in Spanish.  If these are not filled in the next year, one of two things will happen, either class size will explode to 40 in which case all students will be taught very badly and no oral skills will be developed, or class size will be maintained and all freshmen will be shut out of Spanish, no doubt delaying graduation (an already serious problem).  Which of these two would you have us choose?  Or would you have us cannibalize all other languages along with their attendant civilization, literature and humanities value so that the basic needs of Spanish might be serviced?  None of these are acceptable choices to me or my unit.  And this same situation is going on in nearly every unit.  I think some units will have to go.  I do not envy the person who has to make that choice or the people it will affect, but strangling the entire university to keep all of our faculty is probably not the best answer. May-01 ECU Faculty The administration is sensitive to this issue and given the budget restraints will do all that is possible to minimize the impact on academic programs.
Reduction Philosophy 118 At a time when we are striving to be as productive as faculty of a doctoral status University should be, we are being asked to do many things which steal the time we could be working on research.  Like teaching more, larger classes, foregoing summer school teaching in order to work on research, paying substantial portions of the costs to attend conferences where we are expected to 1) present research that we will refine and submit to refereed academic journals; and 2) increase the visibility and improve the image of ECU.  Thus, my concern about budget cuts is that we will suffer additional cuts which will make it difficult to meet the expectations of our jobs.  My hope is that funds for summer research grants and college research awards will not be cut.  My thought (in view of the comment that this is a zero sum game) would be that funding for conferences could be cut because the amount currently allocated is inadequate.  Also, it will be very important to consider any budget cuts which affect our ability to do our jobs when our job performance is evaluated at the end of the year.   May-01 ECU Faculty The administration is sensitive to this issue and given the budget restraints will do all that is possible to minimize the impact on academic programs.
Reduction Philosophy 119 The first priority should be to conduct successful searches for the chairmanship of any department with an interim chair.  It is very costly to operate without appropriate leadership.  (This is not a negative comment about any interim chair:  simply being labelled "interim" makes it difficult to act with a long-term view. May-01 ECU Faculty This information will be passed on to Academic Affairs for consideration
Reduction Philosophy 120 It may be easier to give my opinion as to where money -- any money -- should NOT go.  No money -- from whatever source -- should go for athletics.  I find little merit in the argument that the athletics program generates its own funds.  Unfortunately, there is a finite number of dollars out there.  A dollar that goes for some repetitive exercise in ball-chasing is one that cannot go toward improving East Carolina University's educational product.  This nation has an overabundance of sweat merchantry, i.e. athletics.  Athletics have become the new opiate of the masses.  The people of North Carolina are very poorly served by money invested in athletics.  That expensive, abominable stadium sits empty something like 355 days out of the year.  Virtually every college and university has a mindless, semi-professional athletic program.  Hence, they all basically cancel each other out.  The university can never be better than the quality of its students.  Students are the raw material, and subsequently the final product of a university.  All monies should go to those EDUCATIONAL endeavors that improve the quality of the academic product at ECU.  I find it very hard to give much credence to any instiution of ECU's caliber that spends precious dollars otherwise. May-01 ECU Faculty Athletics is a self supporting operation that is funded through various revenues including Student Fees, Gifts, Game Revenues, TV, etc.  Eliminating this activity would not provide savings to state appropriation operations and would eliminate an important component of college activities and put ECU at a competetive disadvantage to attract quality students.
Reduction Philosophy 122 Cuts of this nature are unwise in the long run.  Firstly, most of us
consider that this embarrassment has resulted from improper oversight of
public funds and at least "not being at the helm". There are many other
areas to cut that can refurbish the budget - that will not threaten the UNC system.  We have a fine system and few parallels - why ruin something that has been highlighted nationally and has server locally well. When those of us who have brought a great deal of cash to the university see this kind of threat, we simply say why not privatize.  The spirit of our educators, basic science professors and clinicians are all at risk.  Many of us simply won't stand for unreasonable repossession of funds or future budget cuts when fiscal responsibility was not the watchword of the prior administration in Raleigh. As far as a medical school is concerned, many of our departments get very little state funding as it is and put much more cash into the system than most practice plans in other state universities.  We are pleased to give this support.  However, if deep budget cuts require more payment from practice generated income - then your clinicians will either privatize or leave. Moreover, your educators will find other opportunities.  Should these plans go forward this year or next - then we must go to the press and mount a public outcry - believe me this threat can be "backed down" and the deficit spread elsewhere - if we have the metal to act with unity.  I personally consider these musings in Raleigh as a signal to catalyze for the
summer's war. Should we capitulate - then we deserve the outcome. I suggest that our faculty unite - all campuses - with a common message.
May-01 ECU Faculty The administration is sensitive to this issue and given the budget restraints will do all that is possible to minimize the impact on academic programs.
Reduction Philosophy 123 First, budget cuts should be made so as to avoid (as much as possible) lowering the quality of the teaching and research conducted at ECU.  The scope and/or magnitude of both will no doubt be affected, but efforts should be made to at least maintain their current quality.
 Secondly, we should avoid making budget cuts that damage the university in ways that are not easily reversed in better economic times.  Though cuts of the magnitude proposed are certain to hinder the university's ability to function, some types of "damage" are more difficult to repair than other, and so should be avoided.
 With these principles in mind, what are some specific suggestions?  First, as an entity that is essential to both the teaching and research missions of the university, I believe the library should be spared from having to make drastic budget cuts.  (A number of you have received an earlier e-mail from me on this subject, so I won't repeat those arguments here).  If the library must reduce expenditures, it would seem more appropriate to limit book purchases than to cut journal subscriptions, for once cancelled, journal subscriptions are rarely renewed.  Books not purchased this year, however, will most likely still be available in subsequent years, and could be purchased then if funds were available.  (This is one example of what I mean about "irreversible" and "reversible" damage.  The quality of our library will suffer if we must severely restrict book purchases, but this can be more readily "reversed" than the damage caused by canceling subscriptions).
 As the letter soliciting these comments mentioned, though, this is a "zero sum game"--if the library is to be spared from budget cuts, where will the money come from?  The call often goes up in times like these to "trim the fat."  The problem is finding where "the fat" is, if indeed any exists.  This task is especially difficult, since I do not have a detailed copy of the university budget.  Thus, although I can not point to specific budget items that I think are "expendable," let me make a few observations.
 Perhaps I am mistaken, but it seems that within the past five years or so there have been large number of newly created (not just reorganized) administrative positions and related support staff.  The need for all of these new administrative positions might be investigated.  Consolidation of overly specialized positions might also be considered.  To use a fictitious (and ridiculous) example, if examination of the budget reveals that there is both a "Director of University Visits Which Occur on Tuesdays" and a "Director of University Visits Which Occur on Thursdays," combination of those two positions might be considered if the workload could be handled adequately by one person.
 Also, (though I'm sure it will not be popular to say so), we might continue with the current hiring freeze.  Though such a freeze would be devastating to my own department (and to other departments across campus, I'm sure), some of the effects could be "reversed" by allowing massive hiring in subsequent years.  If we choose this route, however, we must realize that it will necessitate the cancellation of some classes, which may lead to longer graduation times (and scores of irate parents).  Everything has a cost, though, and so these difficulties would be the price paid for failing to hire an adequate number of faculty.  The alternative, however (having fewer faculty cover the same number of courses--i.e., increased teaching loads), is even less attractive as it stands to cause more "permanent" damage.  If teaching loads become unreasonable, we risk losing our best faculty (those than can easily find jobs elsewhere) while retaining our less capable faculty (those who couldn't find jobs elsewhere).  This would result in a reduction in the overall quality of instruction at ECU, which, as mentioned earlier, is something to be avoided.
 Though the task at hand is daunting and there will be few easy decisions, I hope the committee will keep in mind the basic principles mentioned at the beginning of this e-mail when developing its recommendations for budget cuts.  Thank you once again for the opportunity to share my thoughts on this matter, and I would be happy to discuss them in greater detail if so desired
May-01 ECU Faculty The administration is sensitive to this issue and given the budget restraints will do all that is possible to minimize the impact on academic programs.
Reimbursements 52 Since the State is not funding all utilities costs, charge the MFPP for overages so this is calculated in the reimbursement formulas with the State. May-01 ECU Staff SOM checking on feasibility
Reimbursements 53 Change legislation for the SOM so they do not have to share medical reimbursements with the State, the same as our sister institution at Chapel Hill May-01 ECU Staff SOM is researching the Legislation
Retirement 15 Encourage retirement of staff that are eligible April-01 ECU Staff See next suggestions
Retirement 30 Provide Incentives for Early Retirement - (25 - 28 years minimum).  Provide units with tools to phase in retirement (one tool may be a Division Reserve to fund the transition of critical positions) (Faculty Retirement is Controlled by the State) May-01 ECU Staff The State Legislature must pass laws for this to be in effect.  Currently there are multiple bills introduced, however, passage does not look promising
Revenue 6 Produce Additional Revenues using One Card (Partner with Bank, local restaurants) April-01 ECU Staff Reviewing
Revenue 48 Request Increase in Campus Based Tuition for 2003 May-01 ECU Staff The next request for a campus based tuition increase will be for fiscal year 2003.  ECU's status will be assesed and a determination will then be made about making this request
Revenue 49 Expand School of Medicine Enrollment May-01 ECU Staff The funds received from the State for in-state students do not fully fund the program.  In addition, other facilities would need to be built to handle the additional students.
Revenue 50 Expand Health Services to provide access to faculty and staff May-01 ECU Staff Though this would not generate additional revenues, this would help our staff with the increase in the Health Care costs.  This will be researched further
Revenue 77 Has anyone thought about increasing the percent of out-of-state students? I realize that this would need to be approved at a higher level. May-01 ECU Staff The Board of Governors and General Assembly would need to pass legislation to allow this to happen.  At this point in time, they are not ameniable to this suggestion
Revenue 78 It seems we have much demand for education to corporations and other outside organizations.  Have we considered establishing education agreements with businesses (executive education program), or other organizations (Hospitals for Nursing), which we can charge fees?   May-01 ECU Staff This will be pursued thorugh our Continuing Education Program
Revenue 82 Given expected enrollment, and given that the slasticity of demand for higer education is not very high, an increase of tuition and fees around $500 sould come close to covering close to 3/4 of the expected loss of funds due to budget cuts. May-01 ECU Faculty The Senate has submitted a preliminary plan with a tuition increase of 9% as opposed to 4% which was approved by the Board of Governors.   
Revenue 83 the legislators could impose a one-time universal tax surcharge of something like $1 for every $1000 of income‹maybe it wouldn't even have to be that high, and maybe families or individuals with an income of less than, say, $20K could be exempted. This would bring in a fair amount of public money without, I submit, breaking anyone's financial back May-01 ECU Faculty Because of political pressures within the General Assembly, they have taken the position that they will not increase any direct taxes.
Revenue 84 In California, after the 1989 earthquake, the state imposed a one-quarter percent sales-tax hike to bring in additional income to deal with the extensive property damages. This was then repealed after a year or so. Such a sales tax surcharge is scarcely noticeable for most purchases, yet it did seem to bring in a fair amount of revenue. I suggest that the state of North Carolina consider this kind of option as well. May-01 ECU Faculty Because of political pressures within the General Assembly, they have taken the position that they will not increase any direct taxes.
Revenue 85 A further crucial point is to stress the necessity and desirability of enacting a state lottery, which as I understand it would be specifically set up to bring in at least some monies directly into the NC state university system. The moral argument against such governmental lotteries is in my opinion bankrupt, given the number of states that currently have such lotteries, and more particularly in view of the positive use to which any profits would presumably be put. You can't stop people from playing the lottery, but you can try to make philanthropists out of them. May-01 ECU Faculty This is an item that will need to be approved by the State Legislature.
Revenue 86 it advisable that the state government develop a contingency plan for the long term. I suggest that the state of NC should do what Stanford University does for its earthquake insurance: they don't carry normal insurance, they have simply set up a slush fund of several hundred million dollars (augmented at a certain rate per year, and of course generating its own interest), which is earmarked solely for the repair of significant earthquake damage, whenever it may next occur. Similarly, the NC legislature could create a slush fund of, say, $500 million, earmarked for budget deficits. This could be done by using money from the next budget surplus (which I understand does happen from time to time) and would act significantly to cushion or even alleviate future shortfalls.  North Carolina purports to be very proud of its technological and intellectual centers such as the Research Triangle and its couple of world-class universities. Yet the last time I heard, the NC K-12 public schools were still ranked something like fourth from the bottom of the fifty states, and every semester I see the failure of the state's educational system eloquently represented in the not insubstantial percentage of my undergraduate students who are functionally illiterate.
It's time for the state of North Carolina to stop deluding itself and get serious about public education. Somebody needs to tell these legislators that when you have a budget shortfall, you don't cut programs that are already struggling, you simply GET THE MONEY, and try a damned sight harder next time not to screw up.
May-01 ECU Faculty This is an item that will need to be approved by the State Legislature.
Revenue 87 When we talk of budget cuts, we should also talk of revenue generation. For the life of me, I don't understand why projects that will generate clinical revenue are on hold. In cardiology, examples are placing a nuclear camera in the pavilion office, making more of an effort to perform peripheral vascular interventions, or the 'leased cardiologist' concept. I cannot accept the need for any cuts or for using practice plan funds to subsidize the state's obligations until I know that money is not 'being left off the table'.  May-01 ECU Faculty The School of Medicine has implemented many of these programs and is always receptive to additional suggestions
Salary Reduction 22 Give up raises to prevent cutting of positions April-01 ECU Staff This is up to the State Legislature
Salary Reduction 24 Consider a reduction in Salary Program, weighted so that larger salaries are reduced at a greater rate than the smaller salaries April-01 ECU Staff This is up to the State Legislature
Salary Reduction 26 Change the work week to 36 or some other reduced level of hours and prorate staff pay accordingly. April-01 ECU Staff This is up to the State Legislature
Salary Reduction 55 Furlough staff 1 or 2 days per month May-01 Students This is up to the State Legislature
Salary Reduction 56 Reduce extra salary dollars received over and above the State increases over the last few year. May-01 ECU Staff
Services 79 Streamline the Management and use of Temporary employment agencies .  We paid $759K to Manpower last year and so far have spent $511K this YTD.  Other major vendors include Meditext ($424K this YTD); Wendy M. Whitehurst ($350K last year $97K this YTD), and Monarch Industrial Personnel ($228K this YTDand $348K last year)   May-01 ECU Staff This is being reviewed by the units
Services 80 Use Student Help to temporarily backfill positions where possible May-01 ECU Staff This is being reviewed by the units
Services  36 Look for cross training opportunities of staff where there are peak service times in some areas and corresponding slack time in other areas.  Examples would be secretarial staff in the summer (off peak)  and Cashiers/Financial Aid staff servicing students (on peak). April-01 ECU Staff This is being reviewed by the units
Services - elimination or reduction 105 Delays in maintenance usually beget bigger bills later on.  However, maintenance schedules should be reviewed in order to determine where delays would have the least impact.
May-01 ECU Faculty This will be implemented as necessary
Services - elimination or reduction 107 Allow parts of the campus grounds to transform into a less managed and manicured condition.  The labor savings can be transferred to the costs for implementing 2 and 3 below.  (For some, the naturalized look for certain parts of campus would be preferable.) May-01 ECU Faculty This will be implemented as necessary
Share Resources 29 Share resources UNC system wide for Libraries or other services where feasible.  (e.g. could UNC system have one contract for electronic media, shared by all?) April-01 ECU Staff The Libraries are reviewing
Staff Reductions 38 Review Orgchart for efficiencies (Academic Affairs Project) April-01 ECU Staff This will be reviewed
Staff Reductions 57 We need to make sure people are working as hard as they should be.  I noticed some people standing around last week just talking for some time.  Maybe we have positions we can cut back on   May-01 ECU Staff Where this situation exists, management will need to address
Staff Reductions 64 Eliminate a layer of bureaucracy, e.g. only have one library director, Deans should be required to teach some classes, check the teaching loads of department heads, etc.  May-01 External
Staff Reductions 65 Reduce the number of lab technicians, they seem to be more on call then doing work. May-01 ECU Staff Labs are being reviewed
Staff Reductions 67 Review all SPA and EPA non-teaching positions to determine those that are absolutely vital to the running of the University.  Use the RIF policy May-01 ECU Staff If budget cuts are extensive, then we would need to go to draconian measures to balance the budget which would include the layoff of staff.
Staff Reductions 94 Wherever possible, eliminate administrative positons, such as associate deans May-01 ECU Faculty
Staff Reductions 111 we have created too many high-level administrative positions in the last few years.      These positions would appear to be luxuries we cannot afford in tight economic times.   May-01 ECU Faculty
Staff Schedule 17 Further implement the summer schedule to the West Campus where appropriate April-01 ECU Staff
Staff Schedule 18 Move to a 4 day/10 hour work week for staff where appropriate  April-01 ECU Staff
Staff Schedule 61 Maintain a four or 4.5 day work week, year round. May-01 ECU Staff
Staff Schedule 62 Close all offices during fall and spring breaks. April-01 ECU Staff
State Government 59 There is much waste by our Senators and Congressman, they also need to be giving up their "special" programs and perks. May-01 ECU Staff
State Government 68 Have the State exempt Universities from the State Sales Tax.  In many other states, Universities are tax exempt. May-01 ECU Staff This would need to be adopted by the General Assembly and with revenues already short for the State, this would only compound their problem.
State Government 103 The theft of payments to the State Employees Retirement Fund has to be stopped and the money returned.  May-01 ECU Faculty SCENIC has pursued this through the courts and has been denied any relief at this point.
Suggestion Boxes 35 Put up Suggestion Boxes around campus. April-01 ECU Staff We have implemented an E-Mail Suggestion Box Called SUGGESTIONS@mail.ecu.edu
Travel 23 Reduce Travel reimbursement from the Federal Rate of 34.5 cents/mile to the State rate of 25 cents/mile April-01 ECU Staff $0 $0 76,000 76,000 Low Yes Financial Services has implemented effective 5/1/2001
Travel 66 Centralize the management of air travel.   May-01 ECU Staff This program would not generate savings withing a short time frame if implemented in full.  We are looking at using the ProCard to capture better priced airline tickets over the internet. Once this is implemented, we will review additional process improvements in this area.
Travel 89 Although it is small, but all cities in NC especially will honor state per diem rates.  This is rarely used by our employees May-01 ECU Staff We are educating the university community on this point.
Travel 90 Eliminate Travel Advances for all EPA and SPA classified greater than Grade 65.  The university has a good relationship with American Express and over 94% of food and motels honor such as card. May-01 ECU Staff
Vehicles 27 Review Vehicle Fleet and turn in vehicles not needed. One issue is that the State Car can be parked in additional areas on campus April-01 ECU Staff There are opportunities here for some savings ranging from 30-60K per year.  Details have been presented to the committee and units have been contacted 
Vehicles 72 Turn used cooking oil into governmentally approved fuel for diesel engines.  The process is simple and the only other by-product is soap.  The fuel can be used for busses and other diesel powered equipment. May-01 ECU Staff Energy Conservation Committee