Attendance: Dave Bachand, Karyl Bulmer, David Cummings, Dennis Hannon, Kristin Jacobi, David Mariasi, Diane Moore, Elsa Nunez, Dimitrios Pachis, Michael Pernal, John Sweeney, Bruce Tyler

Absent: Grace Enggas, Patricia Banach, Pat Christadore, Drew Hyatt, Douglas Lussier, William Newell, William Salka

Meeting commenced at 1:00 – President Nunez

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

Eastern Works‐$mart – Assoc. VP Sweeney

• 107 ideas have been received. All ideas have been assigned to a VP/Senior Manager to review with their staff by March 30, 2009. A list of the ideas was disseminated to the committee.
• Of the 107 ideas, 80% could be categorized into three top categories:
  o 41 energy related
  o 26 printing/publishing
  o 17 technology related
• A database of the ideas will be kept along with the reason for acceptance/non‐acceptance.

Anonymous Submission of Cost Saving Ideas

• Some employees are fearful of submitting ideas due to retribution or other negative reactions. There is concern that allowing anonymous postings could create an untrusting environment. The committee’s options are to allow anonymous posting, let the committee be a conduit for ideas, or add an option to the form for names not to be released (except in cases of Freedom of Information).
• The committee decided that a form could be sent electronically to all employees and ideas could be submitted with the option of not including their name. Completed forms would be mailed to Assoc. VP Sweeney and reviewed by a committee consisting of Assoc. VP Sweeney, Dave Bachand, and Diane Moore.
• At the next University Meeting, accepted ideas will be acknowledged and we will also cover how savings are being achieved and what the next step is.

State Budget Update – Assoc. VP Sweeney

• New FY 2009 State Funding Cut (2%)
  o Governor Rell announced Friday an additional cut to FY09.
  o This equates to a $467k cut in the Block Grant and $243k in fringe benefits covered by the state for a total of $710k.
  o Potential offsets to this additional cut total $489k, leaving a gap of $221k.
  o The Committee will send a memo to departments asking them what they can contribute to meet the gap. Assoc. VP Sweeney will draft a memo.
• Governor’s Voluntary Leave Program & Managerial/Confidential Leave
  o 41 participants – 28 Management/Confidential and 13 volunteers for the
• Governor’s Voluntary Leave Program
  o Projected savings total $30,318
• Other Developments
  o We don’t know what impact Federal Stimulus will have on us.
  o $541 million is for education in Connecticut, but we don’t know how much of that CSU is getting.
  o Our three biggest unknowns are what our tuition rate increases will be, what our enrollment will be, and how much we will receive from the stimulus.

Dr. Nunez, VP Hannon, and Assoc. VP Sweeney will be giving a presentation to Eastern’s Clerical union members on Friday, March 27, to help relieve any anxieties they may have.

Next meeting will be Monday, April 6 at 8:00 in the Connecticut Room, Gelsi‐Young Hall

Meeting adjourned 2:18 pm – President Nunez

Respectfully submitted,

Karyl Bulmer, Assistant Bursar for Student Accounts