8:30 – 10:30 a.m., Virtual Meeting via Teams
Attendees
Voting Members
- Martin Abraham
- Lorraine Acker
- Sondra Aman
- Mike Andriatch
- Austin Busch
- Frances Dearing
- Michael Doyle
- Kristin Hartway
- Tom Hernandez
- Sara Kelly
- Yin Liu
- Jose Maliekal
- Jason Morris
- Carl O’Connor
- Kathy Peterson
- Heather Raczkowski
- Janet Roy
- Mark Stacy
- Elliot Weininger
Non-Voting Members
- Julie Caswell
- Jackie Clark: Co-Chair
- Steve Cook
- Eileen Daniel
- Damita Davis
- Crystal Hallenbeck
- Rachael Killion
- President Macpherson
- Darson Rhodes: Co-Chair
- Jim Wall: Co-Chair
- Melissa Wight
Guests
- Jennifer Blood
- Monica Brasted
- Marsha Ducey
- Joseph Long
- Frank Mancini
- Tammy Jo Manz
- Theresa Martinez
- Tyler Moesle
- Karen Podsiadly
- Pamela Powell
- Amber Rice
- John Sapienza
- Katherine Schaal
- Jessica Smith
- Robert Wyant
- Kathy Zunner
Regrets
Voting Members
- Thomas Hager
- Teagan Hughston
- Meghan Irving
Non-Voting Members
- 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 April 20, 2023, meeting.
Dr. Peterson motioned to approve the minutes; Mr. O’Connor seconded the motion. 17 members voted to approve the minutes. Therefore, the minutes were approved.
Announcements
Dr. Rhodes made the following announcements:
- Members were thanked for their hard work over the academic year.
- Ms. Roy, Mr. Stacy, Ms. Aman, Dr. Morris, Ms. Irvin, Ms. Hughston, Mr. Hager and Mr. Wall were thanked for their service to the committee as they will all be ending their terms on the committee.
- Jackie Clark was welcomed to the committee as the new Vice President of Administration and Finance and the new Co-Chair of the committee.
- Members will be receiving the meeting invites for next year’s meetings soon as the planning committee is meeting later today to discuss next year’s meetings.
Vote to Endorse Campus Based Fee Review Committee Course Fee Request Recommendation
Dr. Hallenbeck and Ms. Killion presented the final course fee request for the year. The request was for SWK 500 and the $256 fee would be for software to assist field internship management. The committee’s recommendation was to not support the fee as most members felt the fee was an administrative fee that the department should be covering and that there may be other platforms the University has access to that could be used for the course. Dean Hernandez stated that this is a software package that would be incredibly helpful to the department, students and faculty. Dr. Weininger motioned to endorse the recommendation to not endorse the fee; Dr. Morris seconded the motion. The following are the voting results from the present voting members:
| Endorse | Not Endorse | Abstain |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | 1 | 0 |
Update on Budget Retreat
Mr. Wall stated that yesterday Cabinet completed a Budget Retreat. This involved reviewing the enrollment model forecast. The forecast was a peak at 7100-7200 and the spring projected number was around 7300. Therefore, the numbers will be adjusted in the 5-Year Financial Model moving forward. In addition, part of the $10 million budget reduction over the next 3-4 years was to reduce the 23-24 budget by $3 million. Cabinet determined that there is about $1 million in retirement eligible savings that is expected, and they have identified about $1.8 million actions that will reduce the spend. We are about $250,000 short of the tasked $3 million for 2023-24. This will be worked on over the next few months to close the gap. The Budgeting team will be working with divisions to finalize their budgets submissions. The submissions are due to the State sometime in July.
The following questions, answers and discussion points occurred during the review of the recommendations:
- The question was raised regarding if the open-position management and retirement eligible savings were included in the most recent budget projections. It was stated that the assumption of achieving that $10 million budget reduction was included in the last projection.
- Clarification was requested regarding what the $1.8 million of actions to reduce the budget included. It was stated that most of the funds are from open position management. We usually have 60-70 open positions on an annual basis. There has also been contractual savings on various items that we purchased. We just have to clarify some actions over the next 4-6 weeks to achieve the other $250,000.
- The question was raised if the committee could obtain more information on the open position management savings in the fall. The requested information included the number of positions and which positions are short term, intermediate, long term or permanent savings. It was stated that it is a combination of things. One of the items Cabinet is looking at when they complete this review is how can we accomplish the work that we are doing in a different way. For example, it was determined that we did not need as many night shifts in Administration and Finance as we have in the past. Therefore, some shifts were made and there are permanent savings with the night shift vacancies. Individually, units have determined an amount to be removed off of their OTPS to achieve their goal. We will be able to provide what has been completed in each area, not necessarily what has been done with a specific position. It was added that Cabinet did respond to the JPBC Task Force recommendation of communicating more regularly with JPBC regarding open positions and that will be a part of our agenda next year for some of our meetings.
- It was stated that we had a reserve forecast to go from $31 million to $18.7-$19 million. We are expecting that the reserve forecast will be a little bit better due to our spring enrollment being better than anticipated. We also had some interest payments from SUNY. There were some spending reductions that occurred. We expect to be a few million dollars better on our reserves at the end of 2022-23. However, we have to assess the other investments and enrollments such as scholarships going forward.
- It was stated that we are also planning for the UUP contractual raises, but they have not come out yet. So, sometimes there are timing items that impact the forecast.
BASC Follow-up
Mr. Wall provided the following information regarding the questions that required follow-up from BASC:
- Meal plans account for 95% of their revenue and retail sales account for 5% of their revenue. Prior to the pandemic, meal plans sales reached a high of 2800 plans. This provided a margin that helped to pay for services that were not sustainable on their own. Since the pandemic and over the past few years, the meal plan sales have been 1000 less than the highest achieved. This has put some constraints on services that can be provided. The number of BASC employees prior to the pandemic was 160 full time and part time employees and 35 students. Currently, BASC is employing 110 full-time and part-time employees and only 16 students.
- Hintz has reached out to Mr. Haines regarding his concerns over concessions and they are working out a better support model for next year.
- Cabinet will be meeting with BASC over the next couple of months to review service levels, fees and the support model for 2023-24 to be consistent with our enrollment.
- BASC’s financials are currently healthy, and this is due to the one-time funding they received from the federal government for pandemic support. This helped to alleviate some of the losses.
- We are still working on comparing services to other schools, but it is very difficult due to different levels of college support and subsidies.
Strategic Plan Assessment Update
(Metric document is available on Teams)
Provost Abraham provided an update on the Strategic Plan Assessment process. The following questions, answers and discussion points occurred during the review of the goal metrics:
- Clarification was requested regarding the timeline of adopting the metrics. It was stated that this document is a living document and if metrics need to be updated, it can be done and move things forward.
- The question was raised regarding if the Provost or designee would present the metrics at a College Senate meeting in the fall for informational purposes, discussion and feedback. This would not require a Senate Resolution. Provost Abraham agreed to present in the fall.
- The concern was stated regarding the metric under Goal 2 that involves counting volunteer hours. The concern is that volunteer hours are not a requirement of the job and if it is reported in the annual report, then it becomes a requirement of the job. It was stated that this information has been gathered in the past on a voluntary basis. It is believed that the committee is looking for a more efficient way to gather the information. It is nice to know how engaged we are with the committee by way of a professional organization or a local board. The concern is understood, and it will be taken back to the committee for discussion.
- In regard to the concern over reporting volunteer hours, if there is a clear distinction between job expectations and what is not expected but adds value to the job that we are doing, it should be reported.
- The concern was stated regarding the amount of data we receive from the NSSE survey and that our returns are not great. Is there another way to gather the data we are looking for without relying on surveys that we don’t get great returns on? It was stated that the same concern come up among committee members. Members are aware that it is problematic, but they could not come up with another alternative. One solution could be to determine ways to achieve higher return rates. There is an element in the metrics to develop our own internal survey to gather some of this data as well. Another suggestion was to gather job placement data from departments. There are various departments on campus that gather this data and it may be more accurate than the First Destination survey. It was agreed that Career Services would be tasked with obtaining this information. It was added that Career Services has made great strides with the NSSE and First Destination survey. We are now able to send out notifications regarding the NSSE survey within BrightSpace which is more visible for students than email. In addition, we have been able to input alumni information into Handshake from Banner, so this will assist with the First Destination survey.
- The suggestion was made to ensure communication regarding what the information that is being requested is being used for and to emphasize that it would be towards the metrics for the strategic goals. This might encourage more participation from students.
- The suggestion was made to generalize the metric of the number of alumni as guest speakers in classes as there are alumni that visit, but don’t speak in a class. In addition, we should consider alumni that work with our students with internships and clinical experience. It was stated that there is a challenge to obtain good qualitative data regarding internships.
- The suggestion was made to include faculty publications and promotions to Goal 4 as these are measurable items that speak to the University being a great place to work. It was stated that publication numbers gets captured in the metrics in a different spot. The suggestion has good points for consideration. It was also added the various departments contribute information for the Rochester Business Journal and this should be considered for community engagement.
- It was suggested to utilize SUNY Central for a regular data stream for employment outcomes. It was stated that the University of Texas worked with the Census Bureau to obtain information. New York State is working on something similar, but we are a few years away from the roll out.
Purchasing Guidelines and Appropriate Expenditures
(Standard Expenditure Guideline document available in Teams)
Mr. Stacy provided a purchasing guidelines and appropriate expenditure presentation. The following questions, answers and discussion points occurred during the presentation:
- The question was raised regarding the reason between the faculty search allowing 4 search committee members at dinner when a staff search only allow two search committee members. It was stated that faculty search committees tend to be larger than professional staff search committees. Plus, it is a big decision to bring in a faculty member, so the institution wants to have as many people accessible to the candidate for conversations to happen.
- The question was raised regarding reimbursement for food served at retreats and if the food should be ordered through BASC or use a P-Card. It was stated that food can be ordered through BASC, placed on a P-Card or a personal card for reimbursement. The best method for reimbursement is through using the P-Card.
- Clarification was requested that for reimbursement of expenses for student receptions, a program is needed as part of the reimbursement request documentation. It was stated that is correct.
- The question was raised if the document was a draft or a final version ready for distribution. It was stated that the document is final and will be distributed to the campus community after this meeting.
- The question was raised regarding visits from prospective employees and if the reimbursement process required itemized receipts or would be at the per diem rate. It was stated that it is up to the candidate to decide whether to use itemized receipts or receive the per diem rate.
- The question was raised regarding the reimbursement of student travel. It was stated that the institution is currently working with SUNY Counsel on a policy in order to ensure the student is protected. The goal is to work on it over the summer.
- The offer was presented to have Procurement and Payment Services attend department meetings to provide training.
Additional Items from the Committee
The following items were discussed:
- Gratitude was expressed to Mr. Wall for his years of service at the University and that he will be missed.
- President Macpherson extended her gratitude to members for all of their hard work this year.
- The committee’s annual report will be distributed to members for review at a later date. It will then be sent to Cabinet for evaluation.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:45 a.m.
DR/JW/mw