CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT UNIVERSITY
Response to OP SIX Comments on Review of Six-Year Plans
October 1, 2014
1. Please detail how the revenue shortfall and related proposed budget cuts may impact your institution’s six-year plan.
The approved budget reduction for CNU is $601,975 in each year of the 2014-16 biennium. This represents a 2.3 percent general fund reduction within the Educational and General (E&G) program. The reduction reflects the institution’s in-state/out-of-state mix and revenue capacity.
Consistent with legislative intent, the required savings will be accomplished through productivity and operating efficiencies and not through tuition and fee increases or other nongeneral fund revenue enhancements.
Specifically, two full-time staff positions will be transferred from the Educational and General program to Auxiliary Enterprises yielding a savings of $175,000 in E&G. Although the positions being transferred support student services, many of the supervisory and functional responsibilities directly support auxiliary activities, including residential life, student clubs and organizations, Greek fraternities and sororities,and the student judicial system. The additional costs in Auxiliary Enterprises will not require an increase in student fees but will be offset by vacant positions that will not be filled.
The remaining $426,975 savings will be accomplished through reductions in equipment spending for non-instructional activities in the library, computer center, plant operations and grounds.
The revised 2014 Six-Year Plan, submitted in August 2014 reflects the impact of no additional general fund for the current biennium. Although only 14 of the 29 strategies in the plan required additional funding, five of those 14 strategies saw a significant reduction in the revised plan. The most notable reductions were in the priorities supporting faculty expansion (priorities 1, 10 and 12) and faculty salaries (priority 2).
CNU’s long-standing priority has been the expansion of the full-time instructional faculty. This was to be accomplished by adding ten (10) new faculty positions each year during the current biennium and thirteen (13) positions in the 2016-18 biennium, reaching the goal of 300 full-time instructional faculty. With the lack of additional general fund support, the revised plan slowed the growth in new faculty positions by adding just six (6) new faculty positions in each year during the current biennium. With the most recent general fund reduction, the planned growth of faculty positions in 2015-16 will be limited to four (4) positions. If additional general fund reductions are imposed, there will be no growth in faculty positions in 2015-16 and the faculty position count will remain at 273.
The second priority of the 2014 Six-Year Plan is to increase faculty salaries to the 60th percentile of our SCHEV-approved peer group by 2020. With five consecutive years of no salary increases, this required an average annual increase of 5.09 percent to reach the goal, assuming a two percent increase in the salary averages of the peer group over the six-year planning period. With the lack of additional general fund support and no state-funded salary increases for the current biennium, the revised 2014 Six-Year Plan slowed the progress during the current biennium with the actual salary average increasing by 2.88 percent in 2014-15 and an intended 5.47 percent increase in 2015-16. If additional general fund reductions are imposed for 2015-16, there will be no increase in the faculty salary average. It will remain below the appropriated salary average and well below the 60th percentile for our peer group.
Further general fund reductions in 2015-16 will also redirect additional tuition revenue targeted in the Six-Year Plan to support safety and security enhancements, student success, the President’s Leadership Program, and library and technology enhancements (priorities 7,9,10,20 and 23). Instead, additional tuition revenue will partially offset the general fund reduction and will fund increases in fringe benefit rates, utility cost increases, and the operation and the maintenance of new facilities (priorities 4,5,6, and 8).
2. Does your institution plan on providing any salary increases (include recent increases if they occurred in FY2015)? If so, provide details regarding how much (percentage and dollar amounts) and for which groups (T&R, Administrative, PT Faculty, GTSs, Classified, Other). Also, detail how any increases will be funded (e.g., if with tuition, what percentage and dollar amounts by student group).
The attached table was completed and submitted to SCHEV on September 10, 2014. It provides detail on the one percent across-the-board salary increase for returning full-time instructional faculty. There are no other across-the-board salary increases planned for the current year.
As noted on the submission, tuition rates are not based on line item increases. Tuition rates are set by the Board of Visitors to support the nongeneral fund share of the E&G expenditure plan. To comply with the information request, the allocation of the one percent across-the-board salary increase for T&R faculty represents a pro rata distribution of estimated tuition revenue by in-state and out-of-state at the undergraduate and graduate student levels for FY15 based on actual revenues collected in FY14.
It should be noted that targeted salary adjustments for certain individuals will be authorized this year and next, consistent with the Board-approved compensation plan for instructional faculty and staff. The plan is described in both the original and revised 2014 Six-Year Plan and is directed at addressing compression, recruitment and retention issues.
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AttachmentChristopher Newport University
2014-2015 (Revised)
Type of Position / Month of Increase* / Total Amount Salary Incr / Total Amount Salary Incr / Amount Within Tuition Increase
ISUG / OSUG / ISGS / OSGS / IS 1st Prof / OS 1st Prof
$ / % / $ / % / $ / % / $ / % / $ / % / $ / % / $ / %
T&R Faculty / September / $137,897 / 1.0% / $119,501 / 0.3% / $15,079 / 0.0% / $3,252 / 0.0% / $64 / 0.0% / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A
Admin Faculty / N/A / N/A / N/A
Adjunct Faculty / N/A / N/A / N/A
GTA/GRE / N/A / N/A / N/A
Classified / N/A / N/A / N/A
Other / N/A / N/A / N/A
Total / $137,897 / $119,501 / $15,079 / $3,252 / $64 / 0 / 0
Avg Increase / 1.0% / 0.3% / 0.0% / 0.0% / #DIV/0! / #DIV/0! / #DIV/0!
* If a salary increase has already been given for FY2015, it should be included.
Abbreviations:
ISUG=in-state undergraduate
OSUG=out-of-state undergraduate
ISGS=in-state graduate
OSGS=out-of-state graduate
IS 1st Prof=in-state first professional
OS 1st Prof=out-of-state first professional
NOTES:
Returning T&R faculty received a one percent across-the-board salary increase for FY15. New T&R faculty did not receive an increase.
Tuition rates are not based on line item increases. Tuition rates are set by the Board of Visitors to support the nongeneral fund share of the E&G expenditure plan. To comply with the information request, the allocation of the one percent across-the-board salary increase for T&R faculty represents a pro rata distribution of estimated tuition revenue by in-state and out-of-state at the undergraduate and graduate student levels for FY15 based on actual revenues collected for FY14.
Christopher Newport University
2015-2016 (Revised)
Type of Position / Total Amount Salary Incr / Total Amount Salary Incr / Amount Within Tuition Increase
ISUG / OSUG / ISGS / OSGS / IS 1st Prof / OS 1st Prof
$ / % / $ / % / $ / % / $ / % / $ / % / $ / % / $ / %
T&R Faculty / N/A / N/A
Admin Faculty / N/A / N/A
Adjunct Faculty / N/A / N/A
GTA/GRE / N/A / N/A
Classified / N/A / N/A
Other / N/A / N/A
Total / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
Avg Increase / #DIV/0! / #DIV/0! / #DIV/0! / #DIV/0! / #DIV/0! / #DIV/0! / #DIV/0!