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JPBC Minutes: April 20, 2023

8:30 – 10:30 a.m., Virtual Meeting via Teams

Attendees

Voting Members
  • Martin Abraham
  • Lorraine Acker
  • Sondra Aman
  • Austin Busch
  • Frances Dearing
  • Michael Doyle
  • Kristin Hartway
  • Tom Hernandez
  • Teagan Hughston
  • Meghan Irving
  • Sara Kelly
  • Jose Maliekal
  • Jason Morris
  • Carl O’Connor
  • Kathy Peterson
  • Janet Roy
  • Elliot Weininger
  • Katy Wilson
Non-Voting Members
  • Julie Caswell
  • Steve Cook
  • Eileen Daniel
  • Mike Harrison
  • Rachael Killion
  • President Macpherson
  • Darson Rhodes: Co-Chair
  • Jim Wall: Co-Chair
  • Melissa Wight
Guests
  • Don Bigelow
  • Jennifer Blood
  • Nathan Bull
  • John Carlson
  • Kara Corlett
  • Jennifer Green
  • Scott Haines
  • Mehruz Kamal
  • Dana Laird
  • Samantha Maniscola
  • Pamela O’Keefe
  • James Onley
  • Karen Podsiadly
  • Amber Rice
  • John Sapienza
  • Brad Schreiber
  • Rey Sia
  • Bonnie Swoger
  • Sarah Unger
  • Aaron Wilkinson
  • Grace Wright
  • Robert Wyant
  • Kathy Zunner

Regrets

Voting Members
  • Mike Andriatch
  • Thomas Hager
  • Yin Liu
  • Heather Raczkowski
  • Mark Stacy
Non-Voting Members
  • Crystal Hallenbeck
  • Cathy Houston-Wilson

The meeting was called to order at 8:30 a.m.

Approval of the Minutes

Dr. Rhodes asked the committee to review the minutes from the March 23, 2023, meeting.
Mr. O’Connor motioned to approve the minutes; Ms. Aman seconded the motion. 12 members voted to approve the minutes. Therefore, the minutes were approved.

Announcements

Dr. Rhodes made the following announcements:

  • Members were encouraged to attend events to celebrate our students as we come to the close of the academic year.

 BSG, BASC and DIFR Budget Presentations

BSG Budget Presentation – presented by Meaghan Irving, BSG Treasurer

(Note: Presentation is available on Teams)

Ms. Irving presented the BSG budget. No questions or discussion points occurred at this time.

BASC Budget Presentation – presented by Jim Wall, Vice President for Administration and Finance

(Note: Presentation is available on Teams)

Mr. Wall presented the BASC budget. The following questions, answers and discussion points occurred during the presentation:

  • The question was raised regarding where the funding from the food services outside of the meal plans is located in the budget. It was stated that the revenues from catering, Grab and Go, and all the various food services around campus are included in the revenue number. The bulk of it is the meal plans, but the balance is all the other areas.
  • The concern was raised regarding the lack of food service in the later part of the day and into the evening. There are a number of faculty that teach in the evening and a fair number of students on campus and there is no place for them to get food. With a healthy reserve balance and positive budget, perhaps in the later part of the day into the evening BASC could provide services to faculty and staff that are here during these hours. It was stated that one of the concerns when you look at food services, the Grab and Go type areas like the Union and Raj Madan typically if you add it up across campus, lose about a million dollars a year. The meal plans are the key to offset the difference. The BASC team will be asked regarding the level of service agreements and services for the evening.
  • The question was raised regarding the goal of BASC to return to the million dollars in support to the University from the current amount of $700,000 and which dollar amount the 5-Year Financial Model is based on. It was stated that the 5-Year Financial Model is based on the $700,000. If the meal plans reach over the 2,000 range, BASC should be able to increase the amount of support to the University.
  • The question was raised regarding the service fees that are charged to departments for the catering services and if the budget model includes determining if the fee can be reduced. The fee has increased over the years and was not charged before the pandemic. Catering is used for recruitment events and there is a 20% service fee on every event. If the fee was reduced, it would help departments better afford the food that they are trying to provide to students at events. The BASC team will be consulted regarding this request.
  • The question was raised regarding what SUNY Cortland may be doing differently as their meal price is about $500 less than Brockport and this is a fair amount of money when students are comparing prices. It was stated that this would need to be investigated.
  • The question was raised if historically the Grab and Go areas have lost a million dollars annually. It was stated that it has been that way for at least the past five years.
  • The question was raised if there is a particular reason as to why the Grab and Go areas are not successful and what can be done to change that. It was stated that the BASC team would be consulted about this.
  • It was stated that the areas outside of the residential dining hall are important for students for in between classes and there is a lot of community building that occurs. This is not something that can be correlated to a monetary value but should be considered and looked at wholistically.
  • The concern was stated regarding the concession stands over in the SERC and Ice Arena. There are very limited concessions. There is a philosophy that if you do not sell $200 per hour for an event, that costs have to covered. The short sight is that the first few hours may not sell $200 per hour, but there will be several hours where it is over $1,000 an hour and lines are out the door. The first couple hours of an event may not sell a lot because it is breakfast items and coffee, but later in the day people are utilizing the concession stand. It has been challenging to get staffed concessions. It has only been used a half a dozen times. It is understood that staffing is an issue, but there are events that have high attendance, and we are not servicing the event like we should. We have individuals coming from all over for these events that could be potential students and they see closed concessions and the vending machines empty out quickly. It was stated that these concerns will be brought back to the BASC team.
  • The request was made to get a detailed financial analysis around the retail operations to examine how it may be impacting the service to students. In the past, BASC has had extended hours and was able to offset with the meal plan funding. It was stated that this request will be sent to the BASC team.
DIFR Budget Presentation – Don Bigelow, Director of Residential Life and Carl O’Connor, Associate Director for Residential Operations and Finance

(Note: Presentation is available on Teams)

Mr. Bigelow and Mr. O’Connor presented the DIFR budget. The following questions and answers occurred during the presentation:

  • The question was raised regarding how SUNY Cortland may be funding IFR and scholarships differently since they are about $500 less for meal plans and $800 for room rent. It was stated that this will be investigated.
  • The question was raised regarding obtaining room expense comparisons between Brockport, University at Buffalo and SUNY Albany as these are two institutions that we lose students to. It was stated that once the data is gathered it will be shared with committee members.
  • The question was raised regarding the decline in the residential melt rate compared to last year, but the retention rate did not improve and what is the reason. It was stated that there is a mid-year release process that students can apply to break their residential contract for various reasons, mostly institutional based like study aboard, internships, etc. Students used to be able to break their lease mid-year if they lived within 30 miles of the campus. This option has been removed. In addition, students are starting to feel better about living on campus. It was also stated that the retention numbers have improved, and this may be due to the increased incoming GPA and scholarship awards.
  • The question was raised regarding the increase in single room interest and if campus occupancy will be able to sustain these requests. It was stated that annually Residential Life reviews how many students are interested in singles and how many can be offered is constantly changing. As many requests are accommodated that can be. The order of priority is determined by ADA or SAS accommodations and then it is based on the number of credits a student has.

Vote to Endorse Investment Fund Proposal Recommendations

(Note: Report is available in Teams)

The following questions, answers and discussion points occurred during the review of the recommendations:

  • The statement was made that there is a separate fund of money for academic investments. Requests for this fund are reviewed by deans. There was a request received for wheelchairs and it was approved. It is estimated to cover three to four wheelchairs. This request appears to be a duplicate of one of the investment fund proposals. It was stated that the proposer did note the additional funds in the proposal. The academic investment funding was only going to cover two wheelchairs and the request for both funding sources were for four wheelchairs each, for a total of eight wheelchairs.
  • Clarification was requested regarding the proposals that had a majority of the vote but received zero funding. It was stated that the vote was for the funding amount.
  • The statement was made regarding the subcommittee’s concern about the appropriateness of using investment funds to fulfill essential academic needs and that the funds should be resourced from Academic Affairs or other funding determined by Cabinet. It was stated that the need for the Cybersecurity Lab was accelerated, and it is the belief that investment funds are to be used in these situations to invest in our programs, to bring students to the University and promote the University as a place that is responding to the needs of the region, state and the country.
  • Dr. Peterson motioned to endorse the report as written; Ms. Dearing seconded the motion. The following are the voting results from the present voting members:
Endorse Not Endorse Abstain
14 0 0

Additional Items from the Committee

The following items were discussed:

  • Members were encouraged to wear their Brockport apparel tomorrow for Green and Gold Friday.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:05 a.m.

DR/JW/mw