Thursday, March 04, 2021
8:30 – 10:30 a.m.
Virtual Meeting via Teams
Attendees:
Voting Members: Sondra Aman, Mike Andriatch, Hannah Arp, Justine Briggs, James Cordeiro, Frances Dearing, Kandie Gay, Daniel Goebel, Tom Hernandez, Cathy Houston-Wilson, Sharon Jaramillo, Margaret Lane, Jose Maliekal, Dave Mihalyov, Kathy Peterson, Craig Ross, Janet Roy, Mark Stacy, Elliot Weininger, Katy Wilson
Non-Voting Members: Denise Copelton: Co-Chair, Crystal Hallenbeck, Darson Rhodes: Co-Chair Elect, Karen Riotto, James Spiller, Jim Wall: Co-Chair, Melissa Wight
Guests: Lorraine Acker, Monica Brasted, Brianna Bush, Steve Cook, Mary Covell, Bob Cushman, Eileen Daniel, Richard Dirmyer, Dani Drews, Peter Dowe, Johnna Frosini, Kerry Gotham, Amy Guptill, Scott Haines, Mike Harrison, Erick Hart, Dylan Hill, Sara Kelly, Rachael Killion, Richard Klancer, Renata Labonte, Stephanie Learn, Jane LoMaglio, Susan Lowey, Teresa Major, Tina Murty, Kevin Rice, Lisa Robusto-Mack, Megan Sarkis, Rey Sia, Rongkun Shen, Cheryl Van Lare
Regrets:
Voting Members: Kalista Cherry, Katy Heyning
Non-Voting Members: President Macpherson, Karen Riotto
The meeting was called to order at 8:31 a.m.
Approval of the Minutes
Dr. Copelton asked the committee to review the minutes from the January 28, 2021 meeting. Dr. Peterson motioned the minutes to be approved, Dr. Houston-Wilson seconded the motion and 12 voting members were in favor. Therefore, the minutes were approved.
Announcements
Mr. Wall announced that Cabinet has approved the Mandatory Laptop Program that was endorsed by the JPBC Task Force and JPBC.
College Technology Fee Budget Presentation– presented by Bob Cushman, Chief Information Officer
(Note: The PowerPoint presentation is available on Blackboard and Teams)
The following questions and answers occurred during the presentation:
- The question was raised regarding where the enrollment number comes from that is used for calculation purposes for the presentation. It was stated that the number is provided from the Budgeting Office. It was also stated that the official numbers used were 5472 for the fall and 5064 for the spring.
- The question was raised if the enrollment numbers were to drop a couple hundred, would the budget have flexibility to handle the decrease. It was stated that it would depend on how many hundred the enrollment numbers dropped. The budget would need to be re-examined to see what could be done. BITS is cautiously optimistic that the LMS migration will result in savings. The Mandatory Laptop Program could also be an area of savings as BITS funds the labs. Some labs could be closed and therefore saving money on equipment, maintenance and student temp service to monitor the labs. The closed labs would be the general purpose labs. In addition, BITS is always looking at ways to save money when contracting with vendors and even with SUNY partners when possible.
- The question was raised if the increase in the Technology Fee for the fully online students has assisted in the services for the fully online programs. It was stated that it is believed that it has helped. It has given BITS motivation to look at how to provide those services better. BITS is very hopeful with the LMS migration that the new platform will be more available just with the way it is implemented. The new system’s architecture allows for more availability. In addition, we have online proctoring available for all students and instructors. We have made investments in availability support and application support.
- The question was raised regarding the savings that the Mandatory Laptop Program will generate for BITS by reducing the need to replace hardware in the computer labs and how the savings will be reallocated. It was stated that not all labs would be closed. Some areas would be converted into areas where students can access the network and a printer. In addition, some labs would need to stay open due to the expensive software that some programs require, but the savings from reducing the labs would be allocated to cover other Technology Fee expenses.
- The question was raised regarding the status of SUNY negotiations regarding the LMS system. Contract negotiations are ongoing.
Student Health Services Fee Budget Presentation– presented by Cheryl Van Lare, Director of Hazen Center for Integrated Care
(Note: The PowerPoint presentation is available on Blackboard and Teams)
The following question and answer occurred during the presentation:
- The question was raised regarding if the enrollment number used in the presentation was the same as the one used in the previous presentation. It was stated it was the same as it is the number that was provided by the Budgeting Office.
Intercollegiate Athletics Fee Budget Presentation – presented by Erick Hart, Director of Athletics
(Note: The PowerPoint presentation is available on Blackboard and Teams)
The following questions and answers occurred during the presentation:
- The question was raised regarding the rollover into next year and the deficit coming out of next year. This suggests that Athletics has $478,000 in expenses that there is no revenue for. It was stated that with no fall or winter competitions, Athletics will spend around $200,000 in OTPS. Where in past years it was around $1.2-1.4 million in OTPS.
- The question was raised regarding listing the number of sports on the Additional Supporting Materials slide that each school is managing so that there is a better context for the fee comparison with other schools. It was agreed upon to add this information and provide the updated information for the committee.
- The question was raised regarding how much funding for the renovations comes out of the Athletics budget or if the renovations are covered by New York State capital funds. It was stated that the renovations listed are covered by the New York State capital funds.
Campus Recreation Fee Budget Presentation– presented by Scott Haines, Director of Campus Recreation
(Note: The PowerPoint presentation is available on Blackboard and Teams)
The following questions and answers occurred during the presentation:
- The request was made for the budget information used to develop the enrollment numbers be shared with the group.
- The question was raised if there is a contingency plan if the enrollment numbers are different than projected, for example if they are higher. It was stated that a loss is projected. There have been many years where rollovers and reserves have assisted with deficits. In this case, the $5.00 increase isn’t going to help cover the minimum wage increase. There are also contractual increases and equipment replacement that will have to be covered in some form.
Alumni Fee Budget Presentation– presented by Kerry Gotham, Director of Alumni Engagement
(Note: The PowerPoint presentation is available on Blackboard and Teams)
The following questions and answers occurred during the presentation:
- The question was raised regarding what type of feedback has been received regarding the fee. It was stated that as the front line, Financial Aid receives a majority of the questions. A few students have talked to the Mr. Gotham and have expressed they think it is “crafty” that the fee just shows up on the bill even though it is optional. Mr. Gotham has advised students that good financial practice is to review the entire bill as they should with any bill they receive. The process is very transparent here at Brockport and they can opt out online. There are other sister institutions that make students write a letter and walk it over to the department. In addition, there are universities centers where the fee is not optional.
- The question was raised regarding how critical this source of funding is to pay for items such as commencement or any of the other items it helps to fund. It was stated that commencement is the culminating moment for students but it is costly to put on. This fund helps ease the budgets of other areas for the event. Also, 100% of the funds that are received from the fee go back to the students in some form and 100% of the students are touched by the funding whether it is through graduation, after they are done at the College or while they are at the College. So the funding does have a great impact.
Career Services Fee Budget Presentation– presented by Stephanie Learn, Associate Director of Career Services
(Note: Presentation is available on Blackboard and Teams.)
No questions or discussion points occurred at this time.
Parking & Transportation Services Fee Budget Presentation– presented by Johnna Frosini, Director of Parking & Transportation Services
(Note: Presentation is available on Blackboard and Teams.)
The following questions and answers occurred during the presentation:
- The question was raised regarding if parking passes could be increased to minimize the need to increase the transportation fee. It was stated that parking is a user based fee and transportation is a mandated fee, so they are separate. The Transportation Fee is used to fund the shuttle expenses, where the Parking Fee is used the cover maintenance of the parking lots, repair of the parking lots, etc.
- The question was raised regarding the reserve that the transportation budget has been able to achieve over the years. It was stated that the shuttle service used to be provided by public transportation, which was very costly. The cost was so much that BSG had to help subsidize on an annual basis. Years ago, it was decided to go to bid for the service and First Transit’s bid came in at a lower cost. It was decided to build a reserve so that there would be funds for the shelters.
Other Items from the Committee
Due to the limited amount of time for questions and answers during the fee-based presentations, Fee Managers were invited to attend the first 30 minutes of next week’s meeting for a question and answer session.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:34 a.m
DC/JW/mw