Budget Advisory Committee (BAC)

MINUTES

April 26, 2017

Ullsvik 2007

Members Present: Cinda Furry, Dawn Drake, John Hammermeister, Wayne Weber, Todd Carothers, Rosalyn Broussard, Heather Faherty

Members Absent: Heidi Tuescher-Gille, Chuck Cornett, John Goomey, Liz Throop, Melissa Gormley, Molly Gribb, Paul Krombos (student)

Visitors Present: Sara Voigts, Julie Rennert, Lori Melby, Cathy Riedl-Farrey

*The next BAC meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 11, at 11:00 AM in Ullsvik 2007*

Welcome (meeting called to order at 9:05 PM by Todd Carothers)

Prior Discussion:

  1. Budget Success Document
  2. Todd Carothers reminded committee members to direct any feedback they might have to his office. Comments/suggestions are welcome. This document is only a premis and is meant to guide the committee’s work as processes are being developed. This document is subject to change.
  3. Draft Timeline
  4. It was reemphasized that this document is merely a starting place and remains in draft form. Factors still need to be added in. This document’s purpose is to serve as a timeframe for projects.
  5. Todd Carothers will send out the Budget Success Document and Draft Timeline with the Minutes from today’s meeting.

New Discussion:

  1. Sub-Committee Reports

*The purpose of receiving reports from other committes is to provide more action and discussion at every stage with all committees*

  1. Outputs Committee
  2. The committee will define any new policies that come up, but for now, will use old policies for reference.
  3. Components discussed:
  4. Final budget for Chancellor approval was discussed:
  5. The core of the budget consists of: auxillary units, academic units, and central units.
  6. Summary of student budgets will be included.
  7. Allow room for highlights – major projects
  8. Use of project dollars:
  9. Strategic initiatives (communicate expectations – share with governance groups/campus; driver: transparency)
  10. Operational projects
  11. DMSM projects
  12. Key metrics:
  13. Space usage
  14. Affordability
  15. Occurring trends
  16. BAC’s mission is to close the loophole of what is put forward and approved. It was reemphasized that BAC decisions are only recommendations (Chancellor makes final approvals).
  17. Todd Carothers emailed the Chancellor to report what’s valuable –he hopes to report findings at next BAC meeting.
  18. Various communications and outputs were discussed (UBC)
  19. GAP – needs to be a part of a larger conversation at a later time
  20. Program curtailment – need to communicate with faculty governance
  21. Dawn Drake reported that programs report enrollment and mission goals and, if below standard, are given three years to meet cost-recovery timeline
  22. Committee discussed the issue of tenured faculty in declining programs
  23. Departments should be at 70% density in regards to tenured faculty; some (smaller departments) are now at 100% (tenure-track positions are currently being eliminated because of this)
  24. Committee shared thoughts on how to address program flexibility in the future:
  25. Eliminate instructional staff – opportunity for tenured faculty to find other employment
  26. Reassign tenured faculty
  27. ACTION: define existing policies
  28. Inputs Committee
  29. Defined all inputs
  30. Drafted strategic initiatives (ACTION: share draft with Cathy Riedl-Farrey/Approval Committee)
  31. Evaluated criteria
  32. Management Committee
  33. Approval Committee
  34. Updates received from Cathy Riedl-Farrey:
  35. Committee has met twice this year and discussed items to focus on:
  36. Mission
  37. Impact
  38. Return on Investment
  39. Promote the University to community/incoming students
  40. Committee was able to narrow down these four objectives into three categories:
  41. Mission
  42. Student Success
  43. Financial
  44. The BAC committee discussed these points of concentration, but mainly focused on Student Success. The issue at hand was how to measure student success. Graduate and Professional school needed to be factored in and there was discussion as to whether starting salaries was an appropriate way to measure this objective. Different salaries for each field needed to be factored in. Committee discussed whether job placement is a reflection of a program’s success. Committee acknowledged the difficulty of tracking data for placement over the years (depends on the trends of programs) and the reality of limited student response.
  45. Student Success would give direction for the university to know what to invest in each program and would track whether programs are growing or deteriorating. This factor contributes towards transparency – the university needs indication when to not invest in a program (is the program drawing students in? Does the program offer a valuable education?). The fact that a program is faltering needs to be acknowledged – if one program deteriorates, others will follow, which will impact the pipeline. The university needs a supportive balance.
  46. The BAC committee discussed whether student success would be submitted as a narrative with the budget and concluded that it would be submitted with numbers and was a flexible document.
  47. The BAC Committee determined that these themes only serve as a framework for the shadow year. The committee will see how this formula plays out and if it requires improvements, it can be adjusted as needed. For now, these points will give direction to the overall picture.
  48. ACTION: Work with Inputs Committee to fine-tune these points. Evaluate strategic initiatives (fit into three categories – how to contribute to student success)
  1. Fiscal Year 2017 Tasks
  • Draft templates for all input and output forms (work with other committees where appropriate)
  • Create criteria for each of the review and approve activities
  • Create policy changes to support the review of strategic initiative projects
  • Define whether the student budget criteria should be an approval or informational evaluation
  • Define the specific role of UBC
  • Develop sub-committee structures to accomplish the Management Activities
  1. Adjournment (meeting adjourned at 9:59 AM by Todd Carothers)

Next Meeting: Thursday, May 11, 2017, 11:00 AM to12:00 PM in Ullsvik 2007.

Respectfully submitted, Amy Jelle