Budget scenariosÂ
The president distributed the budget principles document in preparation for the Leadership Retreat on the 15th. He outlined the structure of the retreat. R. Lei noted that there was a great deal of anxiety among faculty about their future. R. St. Laurent suggested that the guiding principles be framed in relation to the strategic plan and an effort to protect the university’s core functions. The president’s philosophy is to keep the people who have gotten the university to this point, as much as possible. You really have to depend on the people you have. L. Grobsmith had a question about the reduction in travel — is the intent really to save money? The president indicated that next year he expected to see a reduction of about one third in non grant funded expenditures for travel. One key message is that Northern Arizona University will be approaching the budget situation independently and will not necessarily be following what other universities in the state may be. The president reiterated that the cuts will be targeted and not across-the-board. A suggestion was made to review the budget cuts that have taken place in the past. Effective communication will be critical at this time.
The president distributed a document that was delivered to the governor’s office last week. The president will be looking at vacancy savings and travel expenditures every two weeks to see how well these strategies are working to help the university achieve its goal.
L. Grobsmith announced that a decision has been made to discontinue the search for a dean for the Franke College of Business. The interim dean has been appointed for a three-year term.
Revenue enhancementsÂ
The president indicated that he was looking for a moderate tuition increase, compared to what the other two universities might be doing. He reminded that the students had voted in favor of a significant fee increase over four years and the second installment of that increase goes into effect next fall. He also wants to hold non-resident students to a dollar amount increase, not a percentage. A formal announcement will be made later this week. The tuition hearing is November 17 and the board will vote on tuition at the December meeting.
Parking recommendations
D. Bousquet reviewed the history of the current parking permit cost. He distributed a document reflecting some suggestions for improving the current parking and traffic situation, even this year. K. Pugliesi asked if the university had data reflecting what the average student pays in parking fines. D. Bousquet noted that he did not have that data at this time. R. St. Laurent expressed support except for the prohibition of people with a permit parking at meters. MJ McMahon suggested that the fine for permitted cars parking at a meter by increased from the proposed $35 to $50. M. Munger asked that we keep community members in mind when scheduling events during the day and ensuring that they are provided with correct information. F. Estrella suggested taking a look at the policy for parking on the top floor in the parking garage, which is not being used at all.
The president noted that parking cannot be a cost, it should be a revenue enhancement. K. Appleby advised that we really need to know what we are trying to accomplish with parking permit rates.
Summer school calendar
L. Grobsmith noted that the summer school schedule had to be approved five years in advance. R. St. Laurent expressed concern about the year in which July 4th fell the day before the end of a term. He recognized that it may not be possible to avoid this. L. Grobsmith indicated that she would check.
Higher education opportunity actÂ
M. Neumayr noted that the act includes may new reporting requirements. There will be significant impact on the areas of financial aid, police, College of Education, Residence Life, etc. He distributed a document summarizing the law. The law went into effect in August but the implementing regulations will not be hammered out until 2010. F. Estrella noted that there were new provisions within the FERPA policy.
Other
P. Haeuser distributed the draft five-year strategic plan that was distributed to the legislature. Comments will be accepted to go into the final document. She reviewed the content of the plan.
F. Estrella reported that everyone with the exception of the College of Business was now on the IRIS system. ITS will be outsourcing student e-mail. They are in the process of looking at three products and gathering input from students. He reported that his staff is working on a way to archive the Oracle calendar before changing to Outlook in January. Meetings, events, etc. can be entered into Outlook now.
D. Kain announced that there would be a pre-NCATE visit February 13.
K. Shinham noted that the police accreditation team would be on campus November 17-18 and encouraged everyone to share their comments with the team.
L. Grobsmith said that the nursing accrediting team is here today and tomorrow as is the team from AACSB.