Eastern Ad‐Hoc Budget Committee
Minutes
February 24, 2009
Connecticut Room, Gelsi‐Young Hall

Attendance: Dave Bachand, Patricia Banach, Karyl Bulmer, Pat Christadore, Dennis Hannon, Drew Hyatt, Kristin Jacobi, Douglas Lussier, David Mariasi, Diane Moore, William Newell, Elsa Nunez, Dimitrios Pachis, Michael Pernal, William Salka, John Sweeney

Absent: Grace Enggas

Meeting commenced at 1:00 – President Nunez

Motion to accept the minutes of the previous meeting (Jacobi, Newell ‐ Passed)

Update on State Budget Situation – Assoc. VP Sweeney

• About $1 billion gap between the Legislature’s and the Governor’s budget
• Reductions may be in the form of cuts, tax increases, or a combination
• If there’s a 2 year salary freeze, then the state cut will be 5% instead of 10%
• Retirement Incentive Plan – people tend not to retire in a bad economy (lack of part‐time jobs; bad earnings on retirement investments)
• The hiring freeze is not producing the same savings as in the past because people are not retiring
• Eastern’s estimated cost of sick and vacation payouts for potential retirees is $1.3 million
• Rehired retirees are only used at Eastern for critical roles; AAUP retirees can come back as lecturers

Review of Fiscal Year 2009 Mid‐Year Spending Plan – Assoc. VP Sweeney

•  The Mid‐year Spending Plan is a time to report back on the previous fiscal year and provide an update on the current fiscal year to the Chancellor and the Board of Trustees
• FY 2008 Actual
  o The actual amounts for revenue and personal services were close to what was projected
  o The Other Expenses however were $1.1 million over what was expected due to a 54% rate jump in natural gas, changes in the food contract, delays in receiving bond funding for equipment, new carpeting in some residence halls, and the opening of the new science building
• FY 2009 Revised Estimate
  o Revenue is higher than projected due to increased enrollment and “managing the melt” to ensure housing was at capacity
  o There was an increase in lecturers due to the increase in enrollment
  o Fringe benefits are less than projected because state retirement rates have decreased. These rates are based on the state’s negotiations with the federal government
  o Other Expenses are forecasted to be higher than originally projected due to an increase in the food contract (new vendor & increased enrollment); natural gas rates were still high for the first part of the academic year because prices were locked in last April
  o Travel restrictions and department discipline is saving us money
  o A retirement incentive could increase our personal services expenses because of the pay out of accumulated sick and vacation time

Cost Reduction Ideas – Diane Moore

• Diane had received a suggestion about implementing a program that would shut down computers automatically either overnight or after 30 minutes of inactivity.
  o Dave Bachand commented that this has been looked into. If computers are turned off during the day, there would be many complaints about lost work. Eastern’s computer monitors do have a sleep mode for saving electricity. Another option is to have computers go into a standby mode where any work in progress is stored on a server, but you need funding for the memory that this would require. The IT Department is implementing in some areas, a way of hooking up multiple monitors to one computer.
• Another suggestion Diane received was to implement processes to make sure departments were buying from state contracts.
  o John Sweeney and the Purchasing department have been reviewing all purchase requisitions to look for ways to save money, like limiting the stock piling of toner cartridges. Also, contracted office supplies are now charged directly to departmental budgets to make the departments more responsible for the items
  they buy.

Proposed 10% Reduction Options

• Everyone received a copy of the FY10 Expenditure Reduction Actions. This is just a draft plan and may not be what is actually implemented. Some of the items discussed were:
  o Moving commencement to an off‐campus site – Eastern does not have any good indoor logistics in case of inclement weather. Eastern will have its commencement at the XL Center, the day after CCSU has theirs. This will cost us less because minimal set up will be required.
  o Restructure Summer Orientation – The Welcome Back Weekend has been eliminated as well as the convocation because many of the events held during Orientation were being repeated.
  o Reduce Paper Consumption, Increase Electronic Communication, Save Printing Costs – Two‐thirds of the Work Smart recommendations were related to this topic. Departments have been asked to review their way of doing things and how they communicate. People will need to change their behaviors to make
  some of this work.
  o Manage non‐FT Personal Services – Discussed reductions in overtime, eliminating UA pay increases, and reducing student employment. It was noted that it’s difficult to reduce library hours when so many students live on campus.
  o Control Full‐time Positions – There will be a continuation of the hiring freeze. Grant funded positions and delaying strategic plan hires will help offset costs.
  o Curtail Campus Activities – Proposed reductions in Arts & Lecture Series and University Hour support. There is also a proposed increase in the student activity fee and the housing social fee.
  o Constrain Department Spending – This will be done by removing the 3% previously added to department budgets, keeping travel reductions in effect, limiting equipment spending from operating sources, and ending miscellaneous contracts.
  o Expand Energy Conservation Programs to Save 4% Annually – Eastern is looking into adjusting building and classroom schedules, reducing lighting, implementing single stream recycling, and performing energy audits.

Discussion of CSU Distribution Model – Tabled until next meeting.

Next meeting will be Tuesday, March 10 at 1:00 in the Connecticut Room, Gelsi‐Young Hall

Meeting adjourned 2:50 pm – President Nunez

Respectfully submitted,

Karyl Bulmer, Assistant Bursar for Student Accounts