Kelley School of Business, Room 3055
November 18, 2009
Council Members in Attendance: Rob Aspy, Margaret Baechtold, Tracy Bee, Cindy Curvin Boyd, Martin Hadley, Tiana Iruoje, Christina Kuzmych, Eric Love, Maryanne McDonnell, Paula Phillips, Suzanne Ryan (UHRS Ex-officio), Patrick Smith, Kelly Thacker, Michael Thompson, Greg Travis, Ed Vasquez (CWA Ex-officio), Dee Verostko, Beverly Vicker, Doris Wittenburg.
Proxies: Tiana Iruoje for Liz Peck.
Guests: Jody Vaught – HPER; Elizabeth Venstra – VPIT.
Members Not in Attendance: Craig Dethloff (Faculty Council Ex-officio), Jennifer Chaffin, Patricia Reyes-Cooksey (Latino Faculty/Staff Council), Patricia Moser.
Meeting Minutes
A motion to approve the October, 2009 minutes as written was made, seconded and passed.
Old Business
2009 Silent Auction Update
Bids as of this afternoon were up to $986 total. The auction will close at 5:00 p.m. this Friday, November 20. The Council recognized Paula Phillips for her work in securing many items for this year’s auction.
Role of Affiliates
All affiliate (ex-officio) members have been notified that they will be subject to the same attendance policy as our voting BPC members. Any member or affiliate who is absent four meetings without proxy will be removed from the BPC roster.
New Business
Budgetary Affairs Committee – Jody Vaught
Jody has served as a volunteer representative on the Budgetary Affairs Committee for several years. Today’s report began with an introduction to the committee:
Budgetary Affairs Committee
Indiana University, Bloomington
July, 1998 (updated February 2007)
by Al Ruesink and Bryan Mccormick
Authorization:
The Budgetary Affairs Committee (BAC) is a standing committee of the Bloomington Faculty Council (BFC) and is authorized by the constitution of that body. Relatively little is noted there about how the committee is to function, and most of the description to follow can best be described as present practice, which has evolved through many years and continues to evolve with time.
Composition:
10-16 faculty members. Appointed by the Nomination Committee of the BFC. The Nomination Committee consists of six faculty members elected by the BFC. Some BAC appointees are volunteers; sometimes appointees are recruited to provide balance between units and interests and age and gender and so forth.
1 professional staff member. Appointed by the Professional Staff Council, usually its treasurer.
1-2 graduate students. Appointed by the Graduate Student Organization.
1-2 undergraduates. Appointed by the I.U. Student Association.
Management:
A chair or co-chairs is (are) selected by the Nomination Committee. One of them must be a member of the BFC. Some agenda items arise as requests from the campus Provost or his/her budget office, some are selected by the chair(s), and some arise from other committee members. In addition, the BAC is often asked by the BFC for a budgetary analysis of issues being considered by the Council.
Meetings:
The chair convenes meetings as it is necessary, typically every two or three weeks in the fall and much more often in the spring when evaluations of campus budget conferences are being done. Occasionally a meeting is required during the summer. Most BFC committees are constituted from May until the end of April. In contrast, each BAC operates from July until the end of June to match the fiscal year.
Relationships with campus administration:
The BAC is advisory to the campus Provost and his/her budget dean. During each summer the BAC (with both its outgoing and its incoming members) meets with the Provost of the campus to discuss his budget decisions for the upcoming year. Throughout the rest of the year, the BAC interacts regularly with the chief campus budget officer, the Senior Vice Provost and Special Assistant to the President (SVP). There is regular contact between the chair(s) and the SVP, both by phone and by e-mail. Several times a year, the BAC chair(s) meet with the SVP for face-to-face briefings. Usually the SVP meets with the full BAC at least twice, once in the fall to explain the budget challenges and opportunities for the year and again in the spring during the budget construction period to discuss particular issues posed by the potential budget for the upcoming year. Historically, the SVP and the BAC have endeavored to maintain a collegial rather than confrontational approach to financial decision-making. Much of the success of the BAC in influencing campus budgeting has resulted from the care with which it has prepared its recommendation.
At some point in the past, the BAC reached an agreement with the campus Provost that it would be consulted on every budget decision involving more than $50,000 of discretionary funding.
Relationship with the BFC:
Other standing committees of the BFC are required to bring their reports to the BFC for discussion and often a vote before releasing their decisions. In contrast, the BAC makes detailed reports directly to the SVP and campus Provost, in addition to presenting at BFC meetings some budgetary analyses regarding issues brought to the BFC by other committees. Each year it makes a summary report to the BFC about the prior year, a report that is discussed on the Council floor but not voted upon.
Relationship with other campus committees:
Many campus committees undertake budget-related activities. Members of the BAC are often selected as regular members of these committees for the purpose of providing liaison roles. Both committees can then make better decisions. Recently efforts have been made to interact with school budget committees, which have been encouraged to send representatives to the campus budget conferences for their schools. (See the section on Budget conferences below.)
Authority:
The BAC plays a significant advisory role to the SVP and campus Provost, as does a sub-group of campus academic deans known as the Deans’ Advisory Committee. To some extent, the real authority of the BAC resides in how well the BAC does its homework and how reasonable its advice turns out to be.
Types of topics considered:
As noted below, the BAC makes recommendations about the budgets of all instructional and non-instructional units reporting to the campus Provost after evaluating their requests as presented at budget conferences. In addition, the BAC provides advice to the Provost and SVP on more global matters such as the allocation of the state appropriation to units, the balance of resource allocation between “support” and “academic” functions, and how RCM (Responsibility Center Management) methodologies should be modified.
Sources of Information:
Committee members bring to the BAC some information about their own home units. Most of the information used by the BAC is, however, provided to the BAC by the SVP. The BAC has worked cooperatively with the administration in making budget decisions, and the administration recognizes that good advice is necessarily based upon abundant sound data. Year by year the BAC and the SVP work out what data are most helpful to the work of the BAC. Whenever information—in detail or in aggregate—that the BAC requests is available or can readily by made available, the SVP has provided it, sometimes with careful explanation of how it might variously be interpreted.
Confidentiality:
The BAC often deals with budget information in very preliminary form. Sometimes the issues are exceedingly sensitive. The BAC has a history of maintaining confidentiality. By general agreement, only the chair(s) is (are) permitted to say anything to the media, and such comments are minimal. “Leaks” have not been a problem.
Budget conferences:
Each year during February and March, the campus Provost schedules budget conferences that include the SVP and the dean or director of each instructional and non-instructional unit on campus. This amounts to some 30 conferences of one to three hours each. Two members of the BAC attend each conference, often having received a packet of budget materials beforehand. Other participants at these conferences include representatives of the Dean’s Advisory Committee, the Dean of the Faculties office, and the campus Research Office. Members of the BAC are encouraged to raise questions and other comments during the conferences. Instructional units take these opportunities to present their budget projections for the next year and usually for a few subsequent years. Under RCM they generate most of their own income and have considerable latitude in how they spend it. Non-instructional units have to make their cases for increases (and sometimes even stability!) in their budgets. In order to carry over some of their savings (unspent allocations) from one year to the next, they have to make appropriate justifications.
Analysis of the budget conferences:
Following each budget conference the BAC members who have attended it prepare a summary—usually one to three pages long—of the budget projections and/or request of the unit. These summaries are circulated to the full BAC as soon as they are available and each is discussed individually. Sometimes the BAC meets two or three times a week while this is happening. Usually the SVP provides a structure for receiving advice—a worksheet to fill out or a list of critical items to consider. The SVP solicits advice in a similar way from the Dean’s Advisory Committee. The BAC stays in close communication with the SVP during this time, sometimes providing preliminary analyses even while the conferences are still occurring. Finally, the BAC drafts a final report to the SVP and Provost with recommendations regarding the campus budget.
The Provost meets with the BAC in the summer (as mentioned above) to present a detailed analysis of the budget decisions that were actually made and why. In the fall, at the first BFC meeting of the year, the Provost traditionally delivers a summary of the budget decisions to the full Bloomington Faculty Council.
The biggest message that Jody brought to the BPC today is that everyone at Indiana University is facing budget cuts at this time. These cuts may even continue into the next year or two.
December Business Meeting
The December business meeting will be held on Wednesday, December 16, in KSOB 3055. We will have a holiday reception. A sign-up sheet for snacks was passed around at today’s meeting. Teresa will send an e-mail prior to the meeting to remind everyone what they signed up for.
ISPP-25.13 Policy Discussion
The BPC was asked to review the proposed IT policy. There were no issues raised with the current proposal.
Campus Climate Feedback
Some changes are scheduled to be made to the current PTO policy. Beginning in January, PTO as well as sick time is to be recorded in hours, not in full days, at the discretion of the supervisor. Some professional staff employees see this as a loss of flexibility, especially those whose jobs require time worked outside the typical 40-hour work week.
Suzanne Ryan asked for some time to respond to questions by council members. She said this policy change is not meant to be a “take away” from staff.
Since the policy is set to go into effect beginning January 1, 2010, the BPC wanted to craft a response, asking for clarification before the policy is implemented. A motion was made to request delay of implementation of the policy and for clarity. The motion was seconded and passed by a unanimous vote. Rob will forward the request to the appropriate parties.
Committee Reports
Communications and Marketing Committee – Tiana Iruoje
Committee members present: Liz Peck, Doris Wittenburg, Kelly Thacker, Cindy Curvin Boyd, Tiana Williams Iruoje
Physical meeting cancelled, we had an email discussion on October 27th
Newsletter
The October Newsletter was emailed out
We are working on compiling information for the November newsletter, which will be done before Thanksgiving Break
We are working on assigning individual committee members to compile the information each month
Our next meeting is scheduled for November 24th from 4-5pm
Ad-hoc and Campus Committee Reports
Staff Merit Award Committee – Martin Hadley
Out of the 35-40 candidates nominated, the five finalists were interviewed, two PA’s have been chosen and submitted to Provost Hanson’s office. She will contact the recipients and follow up with a letter of congratulations (copy to their supervisor). The remaining nominees who received an interview will be contacted by the Assoc. Director of Administration of Auxiliary Services and Programs informing them of the decision. The two winning candidate names may be announced at the next BPC meeting if authorized.
Merit Awards ceremony will be Tuesday, December 15 at 3:30p in the IMU Frangipani Room. In January, the BPC will invite the winners to lunch at the Tudor Room. All BPC members are welcome to attend. Martin will set a firm date with the winners and let everyone know the date and time.
Sustainability Advisory Board – Patty Moser - November 2009
Member:
*Patricia Moser
Attended the first “official” meeting of the Campus Sustainability Advisory Board (CSAB)
Co-chairs –
Paul Sullivan (Deputy VP of Administration
Michael Hamburger- (Geological Sciences)
Director, Office of Sustainability-
Bill Brown
Many of the issues presented below are presented on the Office of Sustainability web page which is located at: www.indiana.edu/~sustain/.
There are presently 38 members that represent a wide area of IU departments and student organizations.
The following agenda covers the many areas covered by the Advisory Board during this meeting:
Welcome and Introductions – Paul Sullivan
Advisory Board membership & governance – Michael Hamburger
Chair's report and comments - Bill Brown
Internship program - Emilie Rex
Service learning – Alexis Suskin-Sperry
Themester - Michael Hamburger
Student issues - Scott Nissen and Ian Kaeble
Website — Andy deLuce
Working Group reports - chairs
Budget – Peggy Maschino
City of Bloomington –BCOS update - Cynthia Schultz
Climate Commitment discussion – Michael
*Member of Academics Initiative and Energy and Built Environment Working Groups
Search and Screen/Review Committees
Dean of Libraries Search & Screen Committee – Martin Hadley
Search committee tasks are complete. Provost Hanson is doing some vetting of the final candidates before completing the search.
Special Guest – Provost Karen Hanson
At 4:00 Provost Karen Hanson joined the meeting. She addressed questions presented by the BPC.
q. At present, smoking is only allowed in specified areas within the Residence Halls. Will this at some point be banned? And if so, when?
r. The original policy stated that the Provost could grant some exemptions – RPS asked for an exemption the first year.
The ineffectiveness of the policy has led to some unfortunate confrontations on campus. A second committee has been formed to examine the policy and to explore ways to make it effective. The committee is composed mostly of students, with a few faculty and staff. BPC member Eric Love represents professional staff on the committee. He noted that the committee is talking about partnering with some national organizations.
q. How aware is Administration on the impact of continuing policy changes, financial concerns and requests for donations on/from professional staff? While none of these below is excessively painful by itself, taken as a whole, this is a lot of change to be accommodated in a short time.
r. These requests came from many different directions. Items a. and b. were not shared discussions. These were budgetary decisions. In reference to Item a., there is a perception by the state that IU’s travel budget is too much. It is important to note that revenue-producing and faculty research travel funds have been restored. As for Item b., these funds are not lost – they are sequestered within the RC. Once the RC has achieved its budget reduction target, these funds will be available. Item c. came about as a compromise with state legislators when IU was questioned about upcoming tuition increases. The six days of additional pay in Items d. and e. were done to avoid a hardship situation for those affected by the shift to bi-weekly pay. This should not be seen as a punishment to those who were unaffected. As for Item f., the Provost heard the reading of the motion that was unanimously approved earlier in today’s meeting. She responded this could be effective, and it should be addressed to the appropriate parties (Neil Theobald and Dan Rives). As for Items g. and h., these are sometimes perceived as ill-timed. The choice ultimately remains with the person receiving the request.
Currently both faculty and staff are in “hunker down” mode. It is worrisome to think we might be pitted against each other at a time when we need to plan together for the future. Any suggestions are welcome.
q. How much money does the university have to subsidize per student to accommodate for the tuition shortfall?
r. We do not lose money on student tuition. A very large portion of our budget is tuition revenue, and we depend on this money to function.
q. Where are the growth and any bright spots? What can professional staff help with?
r. There are several:
Energy issues – There is bound to be growth here. Our Science and Social Science departments are relevant to these issues.
By pooling resources across departments in these tough economic times, we will be better positioned for future growth.
The theme of partnerships on campus is going very well.
IU as a whole is doing really well, compared to other universities across the nation.
As for what professional staff can do, morale is a worry right now. There is a lot of feeling on campus that certain constituents are left out of the consultation process. We need to work together to figure out how we can all participate.
q. How will the new pedestrian plan be implemented?
r. Some funding will come from the campus, but since it involves public streets, other entities will be involved. Education will be handled through orientation materials. The city, as well as the city bus system, will carry forward their plans.
q. There is some ambiguity in the state law regarding pedestrian right of way. Has the task force sought clarity?
r. The task force will not be seeking interpretation of the law. The goal will be to educate pedestrians in “defensive walking.”
The Provost finished her discussion by inviting any professional staff employee to send suggestions to her office.
Announcements
The December business meeting will be held in Kelley School of Business, Room 3055, Wednesday, December 16, from 3:00-5:00 p.m.
Meeting was adjourned at 5:05 p.m.
Meeting minutes respectfully submitted by Teresa Spiegel.