Skip to Main Site Navigation Skip to Content Skip to Footer
Back To Top

 

Eastern Ad-Hoc Budget Committee
Minutes
April 19, 2010
Connecticut Room, Gelsi-Young Hall


Attendance: Dave Bachand, Karyl Bulmer, David Cummings, Dennis Hannon, Drew Hyatt, Kristin Jacobi, David Mariasi, William Newell, Elsa Núñez, Edward Osborn, Dimitrios Pachis, Michael Pernal, Nancy Tinker

Absent: Grace Enggas, Pat Christadore, Karen Collins, Douglas Lussier, Diane Moore, William Salka, Bruce Tyler, Robert Wolf

Meeting commenced at 10:00 am

FY10 and FY11 Energy Conservation Measures

  • Ms. Tinker provided a PowerPoint presentation to the committee about the energy conservation measures the Facilities Department has implemented and measures to be implemented.
  • Some of the measures discussed were:
    o The ISO NE Load Reduction Program
    o A Retro-commissioning Project with CL&P
    o Energy Star appliances
    o LED lighting
    o Future projects
     Encellium – Program senses the number of people in a room for lighting and air flow control
     Smart Meters that let people know when off-peak hours are
     Programs to show how much energy a student typically uses in a dorm room
  • Dr. Pachis suggested comparing the kilo-watts per hour and the number of gallons used when comparing actual usage of electricity, oil, and gas.

Last Quarter Savings

  • An email was sent out to the Campus Community last month with updates about the budget, a reminder to keep saving, and a thank you for the savings achieved.
  • Each Vice President was asked to look at their areas to identify savings that could be made. The total reported back was almost $1 million in operating expenses.


Draft Spending Plan Overview

  • President Núñez and VP Hannon discussed some of the highlights of the FY10-11 Draft Spending Plan submitted to the System Office. Copies of the spending plan narrative and a list of the highlights were shared with the committee.
  • Funds had to be set aside this fiscal year to help cover next year’s wage increases and in next fiscal year funds were set aside for the 27th payroll to be paid in FY12.
  • The legislature has taken $153 thousand from our reserves this fiscal year and we were informed that they are taking another $153 thousand this year. Next fiscal year, the legislature will be taking about $770 thousand.
  • Eastern has to have a reserve for NEASC requirements.
  • Our spending plan passed the System Office review and will go to the Board of Trustees for their approval. Once it has been approved by the Board the spending plan will be shared with the committee.

Eastern Works$mart - Status

  • Ed Osborn gave an update on the Eastern Works$mart program.
  • The program was started in Fall 2008 to find ways to save money. Savings for last year are estimated at $865,000.
  • In some areas, printing and copying has been consolidated into one machine and given them the ability to scan documents – estimated savings $170,000.
  • Purchasing is requiring office to order state contracted office supplies from Corporate Express – estimated savings $50-75,000.
  • The Bursar’s Office will be using Touchnet for billing and credit card processing – estimated savings $75,000.
  • Information Technology Department is replacing computers with Thin Client Technology – estimated savings $250 per computer each year.
  • The University has moved away from using bond letterhead for correspondence – estimated savings $9-10,000 per year.
  • This year more than 50 submissions have been received.

Other

  • There will be no summer meetings of the Ad-Hoc Budget Committee.

Next meeting – Tuesday, May 11, 2010 at 1:00 in the Connecticut Room, Gelsi-Young Hall

Meeting adjourned at 11:30 am

Respectfully submitted,

 

Karyl Bulmer
Financial Specialist