Faculty Assembly
meeting of
Jan 21st , 2011
Report by Hunt McKinnon ……………………………………………………………………
Chair Sandie Gravett started by reporting
that there is an official website for the Faculty Assembly This website can be
found via the main www.northcarolina.edu website by clicking
on the “Leadership” tab and then choosing “Faculty Assembly” from the drop down
menu.
Comments from Sandie
Gravett
Sandie has met with the new President Dr.
Ross and gave him the
resolution on academic freedom.
Sandie shared that Jeff Davies, who is Chief
of Staff , was one of the few of Erskine Bowles staff that is remaining for Dr.
Ross’ administration. Jim Sadler will be
retiring at the end of the month been here is 1997. Among the new leaders in Dr. Ross’
administration will be a new Vice President of Human Relations. William A.
Fleming He
is moving from the administrative staff at UNC –W graduate of NCSU. Charles E.
Perusse will be the new Budget Director. He is a
graduate of NCSU with advanced degree from UNC-Ch Lesley Cates, Director of
State Government Relations, UNC GA will be working ,
with Anita Watkins , on the lobbying efforts with the legislature.
Sandie indicated that this would be a difficult
time for the university system, and that this meeting should be an informational
session that allows the representatives of the Faculty Assembly to take
information back to our universities and allows feedback to the new leadership
at UNC General Administration. This is also a difficult time for President Ross
to come into the leadership role . As an example his first action was writing
at joint memorandum with former President Bowles at the end of December
directing Universities to make short term budget solutions and to begin long
term planning for budget reduction.
Sandie stated that no consideration for
saving funds is “off the table” for discussion. Furlough authority, a short
term solution, will expire in June 2011 and many of the Chancellors would like
this authority to be extended. The Governor has not stated support for the
furlough since the previous furlough had some unintended consequences.Currently15%
cuts in all university budgets are expected as a short term solution. In the longer term restructuring, would be
required to arrive at the “new normal” in university funding. The committee
just named by former Chancellor Woodward will look at program duplication and
collaboration between departments, schools, colleges, and even the different
universities in the system as a way of saving money.
She stated that the Faculty Assembly must
figure out some proactive solutions that use the wisdom of the faculty. We have seen bad budget times before; higher
education was in transition anyway, now budget constraints, and new leadership
there is an opportunity to be influential. There is a potential for faculty to
assert what we can “bring to the table”: ideas for quality to be maintained in
the classroom and at the departmental level to educate our students despite
cutbacks in funding. The faculty knows where the inefficiencies are. We need to
be talking to each other to determine and express our perspective. President
Ross has said he will listen to what we have to say.
Sandie said she will be asking for a lot of
information about what is being done in the various campuses. Different
information comes from different campuses are coping with the same budget
reality. The March topic for Faculty
Assembly will be on line education and distance learning. The faculty need to be
involved in UNC on line and need to have a way of expressing how online education
of our students should be developed and utilized. No one is proposing that we
are going to be an on line university system – we are not Phoenix University.
However, we must comply with SACs changes in requirements including continuing
education and development.
In April
the Faculty Assembly will take up the topic of how the higher education
system can work with teachers at the K-12 level and community colleges These are
the institutions that send us students and their value to the state will be
assessed by the legislature comparatively this year
Questions from the Faculty
Assembly delegates included: Notice that a
recent article in newspaper about privatizing the UNC Chapel Hill.?
There was also a comment that more money had
been approved by the Board of Governors for student financial aid. Another
statement regarded the tremendous range of financial aid used by students at
different universities in the system; for example 71% of the students at
Elizabeth City are using Pell Grants while only 18% of the students at UNC-Ch
rely on Pell Grants.
Another suggestion was made that the faculty
should try to “leverage funding” for the teaching by making the accreditation
standards well known. This representative stated that clear mandates require funding
academic core to meet SACs and these facts need to be communicated to the legislature.
Introduced Atul Bhula, president of the UNC
Association of Student Governments - student representative. This student said
he was looking forward to working with the assembly delegates to encourage
student /faculty collaboration
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Comments from
President Thomas Ross.
President Ross began his remarks by telling a
story that expresses his view of the value of the faculty. When he got out of
high school no one expected Mr. Ross to do well at the college level.
He struggled at Davidson to make “C”s after
being told that he was an at risk student. However he went on a study abroad
trip with seven other students and one professor to Greece and Italy. Mr. Ross
stated that this professor became a “second father” to him and he never worked
harder in his life that he did on this study abroad trip. That relationship
between professor and student resulted in a new start for his academic
career. Because of this experience he
knows the difference that faculty can make.
Mr. Ross indicated that he had been
questioned about why he should leave Davidson College especially in economic
times like this. He stated that Davidson
is a model that is only available to 2% of college students. This is not due to
the cost of tuition since due to financial aid is available to students who
cannot pay tuition costs. The difference is the scale of education the ratio of
students to faculty is 10 to 1 at Davidson and the average class size of 13
students. For those reasons Mr. Ross indicated that public universities are the
means of educating most of our students. He stated that if you just look at
unemployment numbers that college graduates have a much better chance of
finding a job than students who only obtain a high school degree North Carolina
is 4% behind the national average in jobs currently and if you “layer on top on
that” how fast the world is changing it is easy to see that
the gap between college educated members of the work force and those without
college degrees will only grow. What the faculty teaches about change and
adaption and the global community in which we now live do is the key to
tomorrow. Mr. Ross indicated that he had come to the position of President to facilitate
education. Teaching is about North Carolina’s future and training our students
to live in a diverse world in a global economy. He concluded his remarks by
saying: “Thank you for what you do – thank your colleagues for me when you
return home”.
Mr. Ross said that he was concerned about the
economy and that we must keep the focus on the short term as well as longterm changes
that would impact the mission of the university; he reminded the delegates that
$620 million in cuts have been taken . Further, he said, most of the administrate
cuts are already been made so now the budget negotiations are going to be
moving to the academic level. This creates a dilemma since the UNC system has a
responsibility for maintaining access to students qualified for higher
education and making education affordable at the same time we must concentrate
on academic excellence. All this also had to occur in time when there are
budget shortfalls. Mr. Ross stated that prior presidents had built and nurtured
one of the finest university systems in the country and it is his job to
preserve it. He also stated that if
faculty and administrators are going to be asked to do more then we need more
flexibility. Some regulations need to be reduced or eliminate and flexibility encouraged
so we can manage our institutions. Mr. Ross stated that “we must break down
barriers to efficiency while preserving the academic core”. Unemployment is
going to remain high; the recovery is going to be slow, and the university will
have to adjust to the changing world around us.
Mr. Ross stated that he will look at
duplication but it may be critical to offer duplicate programs so they are
available to our students. He said that former Chancellor Woodward was coming
out of retirement, to examine program duplication. Currently it is not believed
that elimination of programs will produce short term savings; it is expected
that the work of the study committee will take the entire fiscal year, but Mr.
Ross stated, we are better off doing ourselves rather than having someone who
does not know the system attempt to eliminate inefficiencies for us.
Questions posed by the Faculty
Assembly delegates included:
One of the delegates asked where would your tax paying philosophy be if you had
not had a life changing experience that you described in your study abroad. As
our chief advocate, how do you explain the economic advantages of education our
citizens? How do you cultivate the legislature and the taxpayers as well. Mr.
Ross responded that the long term vitality of our state is linked to higher
education. He said that the University does so much for so many people Almost
every person in the room can remember a person who challenged them to be where
they are today. Our effort is to tell those stories because higher education
matters to the state and its economy.
The states that will be the winners in the
next few years will be the states that continue to invest in preserving their
universities. I need to get this word out. With the court system that is
exactly what Mr. Ross indicated that he did. He focused on better use the
prison resources and to incarcerate only the most hardened criminals, and he
indicated that this effort to spread the information needed to explain what the
university system contributes must be done it one person at a time. Mr. Ross
concluded that we must talk to the legislators about the needed support for
this endeavor. The University is so important.
Another Faculty Assembly delegate indicated
that “we are masters of creating silence”. We do not work across lines. If the
GA staff is mixed with people with classroom experience they their sense of
perspective of the classroom scale could be provided.
Mr. Ross responded that he will not commit to
adding staff or the complexion of those who will be added to the GA staff or
committees after only three weeks on the job. He stated that he believes in
being inclusive, in collaboration, and transparency; he stated that he does not
have the answers but if he listens well he may be able to find the answers. All
I can commit to is to listen. Due to the current economic conditions no
commitment can be made about staffing at this time.
Another representative asked about the
President’s commitment to smaller campus. Mr. Ross said that this has been one
of the most frequently asked questions since he has been in office. Many
reporters from the media and others have asked if any campuses will be closed. He has responded that since access to
education is so important each campus has a role to play. North Carolina is in
the middle of state rankings in terms of the production of college graduates ;
only 35% of our citizens have 4 year degrees. This is not enough. What we
anticipate is that the UNC system will do a better job at retention. Currently
the state population is growing if and want to increase the number of graduates
you need more seats in the classroom. That does not mean that we may combine
programs. Interdisciplinary thinking will be required to educate more students.
In order to create more classroom production the university system may be
forced to centralize
centralize payroll or other staff functions.
Another delegate stated that classrooms are already
overloaded and asked how can we survive? Mr. Ross indicated that collaboration
between UNC-G and A&T is a model of what we need to think about . Retention
rates and collaboration with community colleges is also very important. We also
need to admit students who can succeed. Rigor matters, and rigorous teaching
will aid retention because students will realize the dedication required prior
to admission. Students also need support form counselors. Mr. Ross stated that
the system needs to do the best we can do to preserve the support for our
students. He stated that he had no easy solution, but that he was committed to
higher education for everyone who wants to go to college.
A delegate asked about the recent report in
the newspaper that UNC-Ch should be “cut” from the system and making it
independent university that was not dependent on legislative funding Mr. Ross
stated that he was on visit to UNC-Ch. yesterday and that there was no interest
from Chancellor for leaving the system. He stated that North Carolina is very
blessed with strong private universities. UNC-Ch is a public institution and
always has been. Only 20% of operating budget comes from state appropriation is
a misleading generalization made it look like UNC Ch is heavily dependent on
state money.
Mr. Ross stated that the real effort is to
demonstrate how the citizens of the state are getting a return from the funding.
He said that is first job was at UNC Institute of Government. He trained
sanitarians about septic tanks. This kind of community service is going on all
over the state and the state is getting benefit from the university system daily.
Research dollars for UNC nanotechnology center that he saw yesterday can change
lives.
Another
delegate indicted that he was an economist and questioned what we can learn
from past This delegate stated that the tax cut being discussed would be very
difficult for people who send their children to college. University system
facing decimation.
Mr. Ross indicated that he had led an effort
in tax reform and that every time a tax cut was made the money was never
returned. He stated that the tax structure needs to be responsive. No permanent
tax cut. Rebates would be a different policy. You need to broaden the base; tax
structure reform is a difficult political issue. President Ross ended his
remarks by saying that the Faculty Assembly Chair ,Sandie Gravett, and he had a
good first meeting and he look forward to working on issues , with the faculty
assembly. He said he was surprised that some of the issues she brought to his
attention even existed.
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Comments from Senator Peter S.
Brunstetter, - Began his remarks by staying that the legislature starts its
session next Wednesday. This will be the first time since 1870 that Republicans
have been in control of both houses. As a result , he said, lots of new people are
coming in and there is much moving around in the legislative building this
week.
The Senator also remarked that the budget
will dominate this session. Both Democrats and Republicans understand that
spending must come down; the current gap of $3.8 million requires expenses must be
reduced since due to an18% reduction in tax base. He indicated that sales tax
income may not recover until 2013 due to the amount of goods being purchased
and the expirations of some sales taxes. He also pointed out that stimulus
money is going away. In terms of expenditures the legislature cannot touch debt
service, cannot expect rapid changes in Medicaid
funding which is 20% of the budget. Funding for all educational levels is about
60% of budget and that leaves only 20% for all other agencies of government. He
concluded that your “hands are tied” by
budget commitments to debt service and other expenses and the reduction must be
18% then it is going to affect personnel. RIFS ( reduction in force ) and pay cuts will be considered. He said he
expected that agencies of state government , including the university system
will need to retreat more toward their core functions Programs that do some
good for somebody somewhere will be cut; good programs will suffer in this
restructuring.
In terms of process the Senator stated that
in the past the budget had be sent from the Governor to the legislature where
it died. Senate sent a budget to the House where it died and then everyone got
together to work on a budget. He forecast that having a Democratic Governor , with
a veto pen , and a Republican legislature will be interesting times. He said
that so much attention is being given to 2010 budget shortfall now in an effort
to reduce shock for 2011. The Senator advised the delegates, and UNC-GA
administration , that they need to
really be smart; if you want more flexibility this is a good time to get that.
You will see reductions at every level. Restructuring needs to include more
flexibility for the people who are managing agencies. University system is
blessed in that tuitions can be increased.
The Senator concluded his remarks by saying
that redistricting will be the other thing that comes up every ten years.
Tort reform will also be discussed but most
of the deliberations will be on keeping the state on a firm financial footing.
State after state is having to go through the same issues.
Questions posed by the Faculty
Assembly delegates included
The first delegate to respond asked two
questions. He asked why repeal the 1% sales tax when the money was needed in
the general fund and if campus based tuition increases would remain on campus
or be taken to balance the budget.
The Senator responded that there is an honest
disagreement exists about whether repeal of the 1% tax might extend the
recession. He stated that the tax structure of NC puts us at a competitive
disadvantage relative to other neighboring states in sales of taxable goods.
He also stated that his predisposition is to
leave campus based tuition increases stay on campuses.
Another representative asked how realistic the June budget deadline was in the
Senator’s opinion.
The Senator responded that streamlining the
negotiations will knock a month out of the process. The key question was
whether there were votes to override any disagreement with the governor.
He reported that the Senate is veto proof,
and the House could be able to pass whatever it liked if managed properly. New House
and Senate leadership are measured even tempered people so Senator stated his
expectation is that the process will be well controlled and not rhetorical.
Another question asked the Senator’s opinion
of the total shortfall asking if , in his
opinion, a 15% cut was a good target.
The Senator responded that he did not know
and said his best guess is that there was an 18% problem. If the state gets
some programmatic changes, in programs like Medicaid, then the contribution required
from the university system will be less.
A delegate asked about the State Health Plan and the Senator stated that we are not wedded
to the current State Health Plan and we put band aides on it every year. He
stated that this year there will be a standing committee on insurance in the
Senate for the first time. The purpose of this committee will be health care
plan alternatives and introducing competition among insurance carriers.
There was a question about full funding of
the retirement system The Senator responded that pensions have been a success
story in North Carolina. He said that the value of the retirement account
has slipped a little bit since
contributions are down, but that there is a
commitment to fully fund pensions and not allow them to be underfunding.
A delegate asked about the option for states to declare bankruptcy that had
recently been in the newspaper. The Senator responded that he had not heard
anything about this or any decline in retirement funds set aside by the state.
A delegate stated that there might be a misunderstanding about who we are as faculty She
asked what the Senators advice to change the foster understanding and mutual support
with the legislature. The Senator responded that there is no predisposition
against faculty in the legislature. In fact, the UNC system is generally consider to be one
of the things that NC does well He continued by saying that the budget issues
are not about perception of faculty but about lack of tax revenue. The Senator
suggested that the faculty assembly delegates could do some good with old fashioned lobbying the new members of the
legislature. For example, 15 out of 50 Senators have yet to meet their first
session and do not have a full understanding of the university system. He
concluded that the delegates should reach out and get someone to put a face
with a thoughtful mind at the General Assembly and help us with a big problem
in a way that allows you to do your job.
A delegate asked the Senator about the 4 – 3
teaching load.
The Senator responded that it is expected for
these issues to be worked out on campus. Expertise from the field will be
valued.
The final question was about furloughs. The
previous furlough did not all faculty to reclaim the ten hours of lost pay because
of the timing relative to final exams. Senator taught at Elon School of Law and
learned how hard it is to grade exams. He reported that the Governor feels that
furloughs created more problems that it solved. As co-chair of the budget committee he can say that
furloughs are not on the list of items being considered at this time.
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Comments from Barry
Boardman,
Fiscal Research Division, General Assembly fiscal research
See link to presentation
http://www.northcarolina.edu/facultyassembly/meetings/index.php
Mr. Boardman began his presentation by saying
he was a non partisan member of the General Assembly staff . His job was to
deal with appropriation and to work on the revenue forecast. Therefore his
presentation would be through the “lens
of revenue”. The Current revenue
situation
The current tax structure relies on 53% of
funding coming from personal income taxes, 27% of funding coming from sales tax
corporate income 6%. Changes in tax structure are needed to be less reliant on
excise tax and estate tax. Funding from personal income tax has been increased
from 30-53% since 1970 Corporate tax has been dwindling.
Withholdings from payroll tax and sales tax revenue are relatively stable
tax sources Corporate income swings wildly with business cycles. While the taxes being collected are currently
meeting projections the most volatile part of tax receipts resides is in April.
Mr. Boardman stated that the income tax
holdings are up 1% this year and that sales tax up 8%. Both of these were down
last year.
He said that he hopes that the April
surprise, from corporate earnings and other taxes, is positive
Mr. Boardman also stated that some of the
economic fundamentals are not solid. Revenue income is still 13% below where we
were in 2007 the revenues and generally where state revenue was in 2005. The
previous recession was in 2001 this recession 10% deeper in terms of loss of
income. In terms of the national economy the 19 month recession technically
ended in June 2009 but for most of NC it has not ended. Growth in the economy
has been flat since the technical end of the recession. Unemployment is not
expected to get out of 9% zone in 2011 this figure will be dampened when to
discouraged workers come back again, and
get counted again , when it looks like it is possible to find for a job.
Initial jobless claims peaked in 2009 to a level not seen in not in pre
recession data. Employment is still at recession bottom levels. Wages and hours
work are increasing so hiring may be slowly increase
Housing sales and construction is still in a recession as well. Demand for new housing was
high in 2005-until 2008 and structural problem, such as mortgage defaults , are
expected to make the housing issues difficult to solve. There are still more
houses that buyers in the marketplace and currently there is a 10 month
inventory of houses for sale when the normal listing period was expected to be
90 days. Construction is in a slump since housing starts are low and
manufacturing was still shedding jobs.
Consumer spending has declined 30% since 2007
National GDP 3- 3.5% May be the second half of 2011 until any robust economy
starts to be noticed in North Carolina. Thus, cautious approach is advisable
relative to the information beginning given to the legislature about revenue
projections.
Fiscal year 2011-2012 the anticipated budget
is expected to be$21.9 billion and the projection for revenue is $18.2 billion
this leaves a $3.7 billion shortfall in the state budget. Universities are
currently account for about 14% of the state budget and community colleges are
allocated about 5% of overall budget.
The deductions from these categories maybe required due to portions of the budget,
like debt service, that cannot change.
Questions posed by the Faculty
Assembly delegates included
If a reduction of 7% of workforce will
increase unemployment rate more unemployment benefits will be needed for these
newly unemployed workers. At that point state expenditures will be head in the
wrong direction and loss of income and sales tax.
Another delegate contributed this remark on this topic indicating that unemployment is a driver. When the
private sector sheds a job they may show a $80k improvement in the public
sector that may be only a $50k
Mr. Boardman’s response was that estimates
are more art than science
Another delegate asked how conservative in
the revenue projection figures were.
Mr. Boardman said that no population growth
figured, and that one could are argue that the expenditures could be even
higher if population growth were included. His office tried to operate in the
3-4% accuracy rate. Last year, he reported, that they were in a 2% accuracy
rate at the end of the end of the fiscal year.
Another delegate asked about continued job
loss mentioning the loss of jobs just announced at the American Express call
center
Mr. Boardman responded that some of these job
losses were just natural churning of the economy and not a trend. The trend he
say was that there was still a 1% loss in manufacturing loss jobs and the new
work force has to be able to fill in and take the new service and tech jobs.
A question was asked about whether savings
were being tracked
Mr. Boardman noted a shift towards more
savings He stated that we lived in debt for 10 years and saving rates are now
moving up close to 5% of income. However house balance sheets are still out of
whack so the family home is not as good an investment as it was thought to be.
A delegate asked how many people who have given up looking for jobs.
Mr. Boardman’s response was that the state unemployment
rate is a little higher 15% range.
The final question from a delegate was about
reform of the tax structure
Mr. Boardman indicated that considerable
effort had been made to look at the eroding sales tax base. He forecast that in
this fiscal year there are going to be a number of new legislators who will
need to be oriented to how tax revenue is collected. For example, if your
disposal is repaired at your house the parts are taxed both the plumbers
installation cost is not covered since it is income. Similarly, the cost of a
car repair only taxes the parts used. The labor is not taxed as sales since it
is income. Most of the dollars on the internet sales are taxed as service
rather than sales income when they are detected at all.
Mr. Boardman concluded his remarks by saying
that North Carolina is one of 8-10 states in the nation with a AAA credit rating. Unfortunately, he said if
we were re-evaluated by Moody’s Investment now we would probably have this drop
in our rating. If you lose the rating it cost more to borrow. Balancing the
budget is very important.
In a response from a delegate, Mr. Boardman
stated that the Chancellors have been told everything that the delegates have
heard in his presentation.
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Comments from Laura
Luger-
Vice President and General Counsel, UNC General Administration Ms. Luger
reported that Alan Mabe had set up the committee
on under performing programs prior to leaving his job. The purpose of the
committee was to examine program elimination
and major curtailment ;it was really seen as administrative committee which is
why there was no faculty representation at this time.
Committee has only met twice and the first
meeting it became clear that the process of determining if a program is
eliminated could well be a 18-24 month process of elimination. She said she
hoped that establishing clarity about the process might help the legislature to
understand that program elimination will not save money in the short term.
The recently named committee is to focus on reinventing
the university for the future. Restructuring and unnecessary duplication is part
of the charge of former Chancellor Woodward’s committee. She said the hope that
the program elimination and major curtailment committee would conclude its
business relatively quickly and that a second committee will be convened to
start designing the “university of the future”. Woodward’s committee will
continue the work of the first committee in its broadened charge; Ms. Luger
stated that that faculty involvement is important to the work of this
committee.
In regard to budget cuts, Ms. Luger reported
that that most of the cuts up to this point were on the administrative side.
She said the next round of cuts will effect SPA and non- tenured faculty. Currently
there are different employment rights for semester fixed term, multiyear fixed
term , pre tenured and tenured faculty Tenured faculty are protected from
layoffs by a prescribed set of regulations. Ms. Luger said that one of her major
efforts had to be to explain to legislators what the rules are regarding faculty
employment rights of various faculty ranks in view of academic program changes.
She concluded by saying that many other
university systems are dealing with this issues and that tenure is important to
the campuses and she does not want to see it impaired.
Questions posed by the Faculty
Assembly delegates included
The first question from a delegate was
whether there was a checklist for underperforming programs that had been
distributed to campuses.
Ms. Luger reported that no checklist has been
vetted by the current program elimination and major curtailment committee.
She said that it is intended to be a campus
based effort and that she did not know if the Board of Governors might make a
policy or establish a procedure in the future. That is the basis of what former Chancellor Woodward’s committee
should resolve over the next fiscal year Ms. Luger reminded the delegates that
a Board of Governors decision would override campus based policies
A delegate ask if there were any systems
priorities?
Ms. Luger said that programs could be
eliminated if a Chancellor decides that
a program needs to be eliminated. The second route is that the Board of
Governors decides that a program needs to be eliminated. The Board of Governors
has the policy right to do this. Hopefully whatever comes down from the Board
of Governors and up from the campus will be resolved by the committee that former
Chancellor Woodward will be leading
A delegate asked Ms. Luger if curtailment
leads to absorption or reallocation of faculty where will the tenure reside? She
responded that it could lead to termination or “retooling” time for another
position. She stated that faculty are tenured within a university and there
needs to be flexibility within the institution . A program is defined as a degree program,
teacher training programs and continuing education training. Cost of retooling
a tenured faculty member has a number of short term costs that must b
considered as well.
Ms. Luger was asked what the time frame was for
the program curtailment committee process. She stated that she did not know
One of the delegates remarked that chancellors may be making decisions on curtailing
programs and they need to know if there are going to be policies that would
effect this judgment. Program curtailment could ultimately effect the identity
of the university.
Ms. Luger stated that nothing is currently
happening with the Board of Governors at this time. She noted that programs and
program delivery should be measured all the time; it is part of how we do
business. If a Chancellor decides to eliminate a program the Board of Governors
generally agree that the due diligence has already been done at the campus.
A delegate asked about the extent of faculty
input on these committees and how will the faculty be chosen to be part of the
committees
Ms.Luger
responded that representation is needed from as many constituencies as
possible.
A delegate wanted clarification on Financial Exigency
A declaration of Financial Exigency might
mean the reduction in bond rating for the state and is not being considered at
this time. Chancellor could declare exigency , but would probably would want
guidance from GA. Before doing this.
Another delegate asked what administrative
flexibility meant?
Ms. Luger responded that it was looking to
the Chancellors to tell GA what was in the best interest of their university.
An final question from a delegate stated that
he was struct by two different dynamics
protracted timeline contrasting 15-20% budget cutback this summer. Elimination
of the employees who do not have job security and then salary cuts. Program
elimination will be too slow to help with budget cuts.
Ms. Luger responded that furlough authority
still exists for GA until June of this year. It is also reasonable to believe
that there will be RIFs and layoffs in the coming year.
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Comments from Anita Watkins, Vice President for
Government Relations, UNC GA began her comments by reviewing what the
University system was asking for as approved by the Board of Governors on
Friday. For next year’s budget. The top three priorities were submitted by each
campus. This added up to $1.5 million
for total extension budget mostly regarding student success and retention as
well as Nano technology at UNC Ch
and ECU Dental School. $71million requested
in financial aid ; $200 million requested last year and was one time money. Financial
aid allocations had been taken from the escheats fund in the past, but this is
limited since the principal cannot be touched.
$620 in permanent and one time reversion so
far. For the university system in general 72% of the budget is personnel cost.
Largest cut was $109, so far, and 90% of
this cut was taken in administrative cuts. The Academic Core was protected by
$700 tuition increase that protected them last year. If there is a 10% reversion
this year that would be $217milliion the potential loss of 2,000 positions and
16,000 course sections in the system. A 20% cut would endanger the jobs of
4,000 current employees over the UNC system. Since the University system
accounts for around 14% of the total state budget the UNC system will be
required to make major financial sacrifices in view of the anticipated $3.8
funding shortfall.
Formal process GA submits a budget knowing
that there will not be everything – these are our needs and these are our
priorities.
So much is unknown there are 42 brand new
members with no legislative experience. There
is no policy agenda other than the budget policy agenda There is a definite
need to focused on asking the campuses to better manage the money they are
allocated for improved efficiency, regulatory flexibility and relief from unnecessary
approvals. It is hoped that we can request a “flex cut” and then be given authority to determine
where the cuts can be made most effectively at the campus level.
Questions posed by the Faculty
Assembly delegates included
What is the funding model?
The first question from a delegate was about
the funding formula.
The response was that the Board of Governors
wanted more information prior to adopting a funding equation.
A delegate asked why not increase tuition for
out of state tuition?
The response was that raising out of state
tuition does not yield that much money
Another delegate asked about efforts within
their college to develop new programs and the reply was that this was not the
time to develop new programs. The Board of Governors was more interested in curtailment
of not productive programs than in new initiatives given the current budget
situation.
The final comment from a delegate repeated
the need faculty involvement in making those
decisions at the campus level.
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Comments from Laurie Charest, Interim Vice President of Human Resources, UNC GA
Ms. Charest mentioned several human resources
initiates the first was permanently extend the phased retirement program before
the statutory authority expires.
Another effort was shortening the break in
service requirements in the retirement program. Vesting reciprocity between the
two retirement programs currently requires 4 years in state government service
and then an employee can come into the optional retirement plan. The attempt is
to prevent an employee from having to become vesting over again.
Another request is to broadening furlough
authority. It was reported that the Chancellors feel that it is a tool for which we need to have the authority in place.
Currently the authorization expires this in June of 2011.
There are also discussions on incentivizing
early retirement. However, it was reported that early retirement bills have not
gone very far in the past.
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Comments from Dr. Purification
Martinez
Report on the Faculty Assembly on tenure
and Academic Freedom and involving the faculty in budget decisions was
given by Dr. Martinez This PowerPoint is available on
http://www.northcarolina.edu/facultyassembly/meetings/index.php
Dr. Martinez also provided a handout on
resources for best budget practices available at
( http://www.aaup.org/aaup/financial/mainpage.htm )