APRIL 19, 2001 Meeting Minutes

Academic Council Minutes
April 19, 2001 2:00PM

Present: Bertha Benavidez, Dr. June Decker, Dr. Jerry Harmon, Dr. Terry Heiner, Tony Macias, Dr. Magdelano Manzanarez for Larry French, Michael Metcalf, Dr. George Muncrief, Dr. Louis Ollivier, Rich Pease, Donna Rees, Greg Rolfe, Dr. Faye Vowell (Chair)

Recorder: Sandy DeBusk  

Dr. Vowell asked those present to review the "Important Upcoming Dates" listed on the agenda for any additions or corrections.

Dr. Vowell noted that she would be out of the office most of next week. Maria can contact her if there is an emergency or urgent issue.

Budget Update:

• Dr. Vowell noted that Dr. Counts believes the budget for FYR 2001-2002 was possibly the second hardest budget to work on in his time as president. The vice-presidents worked on the budget for approximately 15 hours and there were many challenges to deal with.
  
  
• Utilities - The increase in the cost of utilities has put WNMU approximately $250,000 over budget this year and probably the same for next fiscal year. Dr. Vowell asked the Academic Council to pass on this information to faculty, students, and staff. in an effort to conserve energy as much possible, whenever possible. Everyone should "turn off lights" when a room is not in use.  Everyone should try to figure out ways to scale back on utilities. Dr. Decker pointed out some bad practices of lighting and watering that could be changed. Michael Metcalf suggested that some lights should be identified as security lights that should remain on and not inadvertently be shut off. Junius Logan was not present to explain the "energy retrofit" plan. Dr. Vowell said that a past survey to review energy use did not produce any results. Another survey will be conducted by an independent contractor. This will determine if retrofitting can be done to save energy. Western may be able to see some payback if the energy use were cut back as a result of retrofitting.
  
  
• Health Insurance - The increase in the cost of health insurance benefits put Western  over budget by $130.000.
  
  
• Dr. Vowell asked Department Chairs to make retention of students a "department goal". Retention of students would help to eliminate shortfalls in the budget in the future. Send your ideas for retention to Dr. Vowell via e-mail. These ideas will be discussed at the final Academic Council meeting in May.  Include a departmental retention plan in your departmental goals for next year.
  
  
• Enrollment Formula - The enrollment formula gave the university $218,000 less this year than last.
  
  
• A total of $230,000 was taken from Extended Services to fund on campus activities. Steps will be taken to know what classes are to be offered and to set targets to see if projected Fall semester budgets are going to be adequate.
  
  
• The budget this years assumes we have the same enrollment next year as this year; we must impact retention as much as we can.
  
  
• A tuition increase of 10% has been figured for the upcoming academic year.
  
  
• If we spend at the same level next year as this year, we would be over budget by $474,000.
  
  
• Reserve - The University must carry a 3-5% reserve. At the 3% level, this is about $500,000.
  
  
• Dr. Manzanares asked if savings on frozen salaries can be tracked as to where the saved money went. Dr. Vowell answered that the money is put into the general fund and cannot be tracked to an exact area. Dr. Vowell said that $200,000 came from "salary savings". A "hiring lag", when people work less than their contract, is built into the budget.
  
  
• Payroll - Pay increases given by the Legislature were not touched. There will be a 7% increase for faculty and 6.5% increase for staff. There was no "reserve" money found to give staff additional increases.
  
  
• Dr. Decker asked if "reserve money" could be used to make money. Michael Metcalf said that "reserve money" can not earn interest.
  
  
• Rich Pease asked if there would be increases in payroll for adjunct faculty based on discussions at previous Academic Council meetings. Dr. Vowell said that those raises were still possible. She added that Dr. Counts agreed not to freeze open positions.  She said that this would not include the Agriculture position that is funded by Perkins money. This position would have been lost anyway.
  
  
• Dr. Manzanares noted that at other universities the President helps to find funding as needed and that maybe Dr. Counts could do the same.
  
  
• Dr. Ollivier said that at other universities the Board of Regents members help to raise funds.
  
  
• Rich Pease asked if some public relations campaign was being planned to explain to students about the 10% tuition increase. He said that it should be planned to help to retain students who may get upset about the increase. Dr. Harmon suggested that the Financial Aid Department should prepare something to inform students of the increase.  Dr. Muncrief said that tuition at Western is still low in comparison to other competitive schools.  Michael Metcalf suggested that information about the increase should contain reasons why the increase is necessary.
  
  
• Faculty Travel - The budget for faculty travel was not lowered, but staff travel was cut by $23,000. The travel budget for the VPAA was cut; therefore, no additional money will be found there for faculty travel.
  
  
• Dr. Decker asked if the university is losing money on empty dorm rooms. She asked if money could be saved on the cost of utilities since many dorm rooms are empty. Dr. Vowell said that utility costs from dorm rooms are paid out of another budget.
  
  
• Graduate Assistant and Work Study Budgets - Money for temporary salaries will no longer be available by doing a budget revision to move money from GA and work study budget line items. If temporary salaries have been an ongoing process to find workers in your department, talk to Dr. Vowell about making permanent changes in the budget.
  
  
• Dr. Vowell asked the Expressive Arts Department to meet with her and Chris Casey regarding their budget.
  
  
• Dr. Vowell asked Dr. Harmon to arrange to meet with her regarding the SOE budget.
  
  
• Dr. Vowell asked the members present to keep the details of budget discussions of today’s meeting to themselves until the budget has been accepted by the Board of Regents. Chris Casey will present the budget to the CHE for approval in May. When the process is completed the budget will be released to the departments.
  
  
• Dr. Vowell said the equipment requests submitted by department chairs will be discussed at the May 4^th Academic Council meeting.

Equipment Allocations:

• Dr. Vowell said the IT PMT equipment study will be discussed at the next Academic Council meeting. The PMT is looking at a complex policy for equipment replacement throughout the campus.
  
  
• Dr. Muncrief suggested that software upgrades also need to be addressed.
  
  
• Michael Metcalf suggested that all equipment on campus be assessed and standardized and that site licenses be looked into.

AQIP Update:

• An AQIP Commission was formed to look at ideas generated at the three campus meetings. The members of the commission are faculty, staff, and leadership of the Staff Senate and Faculty Senate.
  
  
• The group determined four Vital Few areas of focus: funding, communication, retention/attraction, and advising. Dr. Kathie Gilbert suggested a fifth area, assessment.
  
  
• The steering committee is preparing an official document to set and address goals.
  
  
• Dates set for deadlines of the draft:

1. April 23 - 1^st draft
2. April 26 - feedback
3. May 2 -
4. May 5 -
5. May 8 - final draft
6. May 11 - "declaration of goals" completed

Program Reviews:

• Dr. Vowell gave the members a "program review schedule" (handout). If a program review is needed for your department and it is not already scheduled, contact Dr. Vowell.

The meeting adjourned at 3:15pm.