These are seven of the nine members of the Financial and Budgetary Affairs Committee who will meet today to discuss the state imposed budget cuts and possible solutions.
SUE WELLER- Chairwoman of the committee and director of Facilities Business Services and Transportation
Sue Weller said she's ready to get started with decision making for the budget cuts.
"We're all anxious to roll up our sleeves," she said.
Weller leads a group of relatively new members. The Financial and Budgetary Affairs Committee operates on two-year terms and most of the eight voting members are serving in their first year.
The group's first meeting this school year was last month, and Weller said she hopes to get things started earlier next year.
"My personal goal is to have the committee work together, not just give presentations at each meeting," she said. "I'd like to complete the communication circle, so it goes both ways."
Other campus involvements- Four-year member of Public Safety Committee
Worked at Ball State for 19 years
RALPH BREMIGAN- secretary of the committee and mathematics professor
A first-year member of the Financial and Budgetary Affairs Committee, secretary Ralph Bremigan said he doesn't really know what to expect at the meeting.
"We're clearly dealing with a matter of consequence," he said. "I hope to represent the general population of the university at the meeting."
He said he's interested to hear the specific ideas that have been submitted, but he noted the committee is just an advisory group.
"My understanding is the administration would run ideas by us," he said. "We are free to express opinions, and they're kind of free to ignore them."
Other campus involvements- University Senate representative from the mathematical science department
Worked at Ball State for 18 years
ANN BLAKEY - Former chairwoman of Financial and Budgetary Affairs and associate professor of biology
Ann Blakey led the group last spring when they found themselves much in the same situation, advising the cabinet on how to address state funding loss.
Blakey described the group as a liaison between the administration and University Council and also an advisory body to the administration.
She said that last year, the committee had more meetings.
"I tend to set up schedules," she said. "We met every fourth Thursday of the month [last spring]," she said.
She said there was no need for the committee to meet last semester because most things in the university governance system were contained to committees.
"We needed to wait for business to come in, rather than create our own agenda," she said.
Other campus involvements- member of Women in Science organization, member of the Biology Department Curriculum Committee, adviser to two student organizations
Worked at Ball State for 15 years
MIKE McGREW - At Large member and computer science professor
Mike McGrew said he doesn't think there's much opportunity to cut costs or generate money for the university, but he said the university plans to avoid raising the costs for students any more than absolutely necessary.
"It's hard to form an impression [of the Financial and Budgetary Affairs Committee] just yet," he said. "We're an advisory committee and not a source of input."
To accomplish anything, he said university employees and leaders will have to work together and work with the mission of Ball State.
He proposed a couple ideas for generating revenue: getting involved with spin-off companies and asking for contributions from alumni and friends of the university.
"The means of generating revenue are kind of limited to our imagination," he said.
Other campus involvements - Has been involved in University Senate, Faculty Council and other governance committees
Worked at Ball State for three years
BARBARA WILLS- University Council Representative and technology training specialist
In her 12 years at Ball State, Barbara Wills said she's never seen such a large permanent change to the university budget.
Wills is a two-year member of the Financial and Budgetary Affairs Committee, and she said she assumes the group will make decisions that will affect the entire university.
"I think [the administration] will maximize choices about what will have the most effect without cutting jobs or those type of drastic measures," she said.
Wills is the associate director of training at the Emerging Technology Department. She said the department is looking into cost savings by offering more opportunities online.
"We're looking at ways to be able to have conferences and bringing people to campus," she said.
Bringing people to the Indianapolis Center and Fishers Center are two more of her goals. These institutions offer Ball State courses from different locations more suitable to their geographic needs.
"The department is looking into ways to generate revenue because that really pulls a lot of departments together," she said.
Other campus involvements- University Council member
Worked at Ball State for 12 years
LIZ PETERSON- graduate student
A graduate student at Ball State, Liz Peterson said she joined the Financial and Budgetary Affairs Committee as a way to transition from teaching into administration.
She earned her undergraduate degree in electronics engineering technology at Texas Southern University. She received a master's degree with a focus in finance from the University of Saint Francis.
"I've always liked dealing with money and managing budgets," she said.
She said she was impressed with how the first meeting was conducted.
"Students were at the forefront of importance," she said.
She said she didn't have any ideas to bring to the table, but she expects the group to come up with reasonable ideas.
Other involvements- Junior Achievement volunteer for second-grade students at a program in Fort Wayne, doctoral assistant and teacher at Ivy Tech in the online class Techniques of Supervision
Pursing a doctoral degree
KYLE BUSHEY - student representative
A junior finance major, Kyle Bushey said after serving as a member of the Student Government Association for two years, he wanted to join a University Senate committee.
With his background in finance, he decided the Financial and Budgetary Affairs Committee would be a good choice.
"I learned a lot about the school's finances and how they have to go about making the final decisions," he said. "Now we're going to hear the firm, stronger ideas the administration wanted, the more concrete ideas."
He said he believes it's important to have the perspective of every part of Ball State. He's asked his friends for ideas, and he helped advertise for students to send ideas to SGA. He said they collected about 75 ideas, which were forwarded to Gora and the cabinet.
Bushey said he had one idea for cost savings: asking graduating seniors to evaluate their major program.
"If I were to [critique] the finance department, I'd say the teachers are strong, and the department's pretty structured, really," Bushey said.
Other involvements- Member of SGA, Alpha Kappa Psi (business fraternity), Excellence in Leadership, Dance Marathon and Miller College of Business Advisory Board
Junior at Ball State
TERRY ZIVNEY- Ex officio member, Maxon Distinguished Professor of Finance and Insurance
Terry Zivney, a three year member of the Financial and Budgetary Affairs Committee, said even before the academic calendar year started, people were getting bad vibes about the economy and the budget.
He said the group didn't meet before January because it didn't want to start with a new issue. Instead it waited to determine the focus of discussion. He is also the chairman of the Salary and Benefits Committee, which tends to meet more often, he said.
He appreciates the administration looking to established committees for input, he said, instead of creating an ad hoc committee.
Zivney suggested making some things more uniform across campus, such as offerings at the dining halls, to save the university money. The cost for a la carte items is priced effectively, he said, but the overhead costs might be higher.
"The modern approach is to ask what people want," he said. "We learn not to ask for things that are too expensive."
Other campus involvements- member of the Extended Education Committee and Faculty Council, Chairman of Salary and Benefits Committee
Worked at Ball State for 18 years
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