Minutes of the University Budget Committee

 

Meeting Date:  Thursday, October 21, 2010, at 4:00 p.m.

 

Regular Members Present: Scott MacGilvray, Todd Fraley, Don Palumbo, John Given, Alexandra Shlapentokh, Maureen Ellis

 

Ex-officio Members Present:  Joe Gaddis, Gary Vanderpool, Wanda Wynne, Anne Jenkins, Kevin Seitz, Jinling Huang, Patricia Anderson, and Dillon Godley

 

Meeting was called to order by Chairman, Scott MacGilvray at 4:00 p.m.

 

Minutes from the September meeting were approved and seconded: unanimously approved.

 

Vice Chancellor Kevin Seitz: guest speaker.

 

All the documents have been posted on the faculty senate website, revenue streams:

·        Budget reduction

·        Revenues

·        Expenses

·        Tuition & fees

·        How the budget is put together for the university

·        Bookstore, food store, housing, rec center, athletics, printing & graphics

State support is only about 30% of total budget

 

Kevin suggests that committee members review all of the documents and then contact their department directly if there are any additional questions.

 

The University does not 0-based budget annually. Instead, the money rolls over from one year to the next (occasionally some changes, but nothing major). This is a strategy to deal with the University mission and “get done what you need to get done”. This method does cause some angst when taking money from different programs because money is funneled to strategic priorities with funds. We don’t reallocate – manage money that comes in each year. Put new money into initiatives as an executive council based on priorities stated in the strategic plan.

 

The University has experienced about $100 million reduction in base budget over the past 3 years; has had an impact on the university. So far the university has been able to absorb all of the losses through elimination of unnecessary departments (i.e. incinerator on West campus). Minimal effect on the academic core to this point.

 

How to meet the reduction for 2010/11?  Use our 9% savings bank (took vacant positions, banked them and used them to offset reductions with money left over). GA came up with supplemental tuition increases to go for financial aid (20%) and budget cuts, as a result, Students bore most of the cost of the reduction. For 2011/2012, debating fee increases, supplemental tuition increases, etc.

New sources of funding: enrollment growth; state appropriation; campus based tuition increases.

Enrollment growth funding goes to:

·        78 positions/faculty salaries

·        Other academic support (benefit costs/operating costs)

·        Library

·        General institutional support – academic administrative office that support faculty, staff and students.

With enrollment growth funding, we need 12.3 million

 

Use the money for

·        78 new positions, salary and benefits

·        Operating support for colleges

·        Strategic Academic Initiatives

·        STEM

·        Outreach Students

·        Health Disparities

·        Metabolic programs

·        Honors College

·        Infrastructures

o       Enrollment management

o       Financial services

o       Research infrastructure

·        Institutional Mandates

o       Campus safety

o       Enterprise risk management

o       SACS & assessment office

·        Structural corrections (one-time items have permanent money)

 

Campus based tuition increases:

·        Undergraduate $3.6 M

·        Graduate $0.6M

·        Professional $0.1M

·        Totaling: $4.5M

The medical school has the lowest tuition in the country.

Dental school tuition – set at $20,0000 – one of the 6th /7th lowest in the nation

Supplemental tuition: used to cover base budget reduction. Legislature allowing us to increase tuition. For every dollar we get, they take one dollar from our state appropriated base budget, this results in a net shifting of a portion of the budget to students and off of GA funding.

 

Question from panel -- How do these increases effect student retention?

 

State Appropriations: $6M recurring Dental School Operating: hire faculty and staff necessary to develop the academic program.

 

Budget Management Guidelines:

 

Preview of 2011/2012

The State budget is going to be short $3.28B shortfall in revenue

Revenue for sunset clauses not available for 11/12

Hopefully things will be better as we go through fiscal year and following the election.

Currently planning for a 5%/10% reduction – little over $30M; savings, supplemental tuition, vacancies are being looked at as ways to cover these reductions.

 

Priorities for 2011/12

·        Enrollment growth funding

·        Financial aid funding

·        Dental school funding

·        Repair and renovation instead of capital funds

 

 

Scott suggested that the Committee take some time to go through the information Kevin Seitz presented and then if there are additional question, we can bring him back at a later date.

 

No other agenda items.

 

Next meeting: Scott will extend invitations to: Director of Financial Aid (retention) and the Dean of the Honor’s College; John Fletcher – retention

 

Next meeting: November 18 @ 4:00 p.m. in Rawls Annex

 

Meeting dismissed: 5:10 p.m.

 

Submitted by Maureen Ellis