Randy Howard, vice president for business affairs and Ball State University treasurer, briefed the faculty council Thursday on what the university is doing to address the $15.2 million budget cut for state-appropriated funding.
Howard said just less than $5 million needs to be cut by the end of the academic year, but formal discussion within university governance won't begin until mid-March, further shortening this time interval.
Since the governor's call for budget cuts came in the middle of the academic year, Howard said there is some flexibility as to when the amount is cut. He said the university can cut more or less than the $5 million by June 30, as long as the total $15.2 million is eliminated from the university's operating budget by the end June 2011. After that, there will be a permanent cut of $7.6 million from the university budget.
The general operating fund currently holds $290 million, and a permanent reduction of $7.6 million would account for roughly 5.5 percent of this budget.
Howard said the bottom line is $15.2 million need to be cut from the university's budget in the next 17 months.
'It'll be harder to cut this year than next year,' Howard said.
A team comprised of Howard, President Jo Ann Gora, her cabinet and vice presidents of each department are working together to consider ways the university can cut costs and generate revenue. An address from the president and her cabinet is available online, as well as an e-mail address to which faculty, staff and students can direct ideas.
Howard said Thursday they had received 52 responses.
'Ideas ranged from eliminating business affairs altogether to some very insightful ideas we can consider,' he said.
Looking ahead, he hopes to receive more ideas by Jan. 29 so the board can begin to sift through them. He anticipated organizing the ideas that are generated into three 'buckets.' One group would include ideas that will not be of immediate assistance to the university; another group would include ideas that were relevant but would not generate substantial profit, and the last group would include ideas that were relevant and substantial.
During a question and answer period with Randy Howard, Urban Planning Professor Eric Kelly asked if Howard and his team would be open to the idea of a faculty task force to address the funding loss.
'I'm using the budgetary affairs committee,' Howard said. 'We're planning two campus forums. I'd be happy to participate if the Senate would like to sponsor one.'
Gora added to his response, saying she and Howard chose to keep discussion within the president's cabinet because of the immediacy of the issue. She said they supplemented the views of this small group with the open forum created through the e-mail account.
History professor Tony Edmonds said he wished officials would let faculty know about the university's plan.
'I feel well-informed [as a member of faculty council], and I asked the [Senate] executive committee chairs a few weeks ago what the university was doing, and they didn't know,' he said.
Gora apologized for not sending out any formal literature since late December, and she said the faculty could expect a new Presidential Perspective in the next few days.
Other items discussed:
The minimum requirements for a bachelor's degree was changed from 126 credit hours to 120 hours.
Faculty council will look into how tuition and fees are structured for summer sessions and online classes, noting that each seem disproportionately expensive.
Numbers:
Ball State's budget cut- $15.2 million
Amount that needs to be cut by the end of the school year- $4.9-5 million
Amount that needs to be cut next school year- $10 million
Permanent cut- $7.6 million
University general fund- $290 million
Send your ideas to budgplan@bsu.edu
Read a letter from Gora and her cabinet at cms.bsu.edu/en/About/StrategicPlan/Budget2010.aspx and look forward to a new Presidential Perspective in the next few days.
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