THE
Exempt Staff Council Meeting
Fortwood
Room,
Members Attending: Nancy Amberson, Becky Bell, Tonya Botts, Jean Dake,
Shirl Gholston, Jan Gould, Ellen Neufeldt, Nate Pinkard, Matt Pope, Charles
Scott, Janet Spraker.
Others in attendance: Dan Webb, Director, Office of Human Resources;
Melanie Sadler, Administrative Secretary, Office of Human Resources.
Call to Order:
Ms. Dake called the meeting to order.
Minutes: Motion was made and seconded to approve minutes of the
Guest: Richard Brown,
Vice Chancellor for Finance, Operations & Information Technology
UTC’s budget approval process for 2005-06 will begin with unit meetings
in December followed by open budget hearings the end of January. The Budget
Planning & Evaluation Committee will recommend a budget to the Chancellor,
who makes a recommendation to the Trustees Liaison Committee. The Liaison
Committee presents the recommended budget to the UT President, who will present
the budget to the UT Board of Trustees for final approval. Mr. Brown stated
that Dr. Obear desires a shorter budget process than in past years and for the
Executive Staff to take ownership of the budget.
Proposed system-wide E & G (Education & General) revenues for the
2004-05 budget assume 51% from state appropriations and 29.8% from tuition and
fees with the remaining funds from sales & services, grants &
contracts, and gifts and endowment income.
Proposed system-wide E & G expenditures for 2004-05 allocate 48% for
instruction; 6.9% for research; 7.9% for public service; 10.8% academic
support; 5.7% student services; 6.9% for institutional support; 9.2% for
operation & maintenance of plant (utilities, custodians, buildings); 4.6%
for scholarships & fellowships.
UTC’s proposed E & G revenues for 2004-05 assume 45.7% from fees and
tuition and 48.5% from state appropriations, which was 60% fifteen years ago.
Proposed expenditures allocate 7.7% for scholarships & fellowships; 13.9%
for operation & maintenance of plant; 7.5% for institutional support; 12.8%
for student services; 6.9% for academic support; 2.6% for public service; 1.2%
for research; 47.4% for instruction. Last year UTC allocated 44% for
instruction; nationally, universities spend 33 - 45% on instruction. Where UTC
has not been competitive is in Minority and Dean’s scholarships, according to
Mr. Brown.
By comparison, UT Martin’s revenues for 2004-05 assume 49.2% from state
appropriations and 46.4% from tuition and fees. Martin’s proposed expenditures
are 44.5% for instruction; 8.7% for scholarships & fellowships; 12.7% for
operation and maintenance of plant; 6.2% for institutional support; 11% for
student services; 13.1% for academic support; 3.1% for research; 0.7% for
public service.
Mr. Brown said he believes UTC’s budget is on target but tough choices
and sacrifices have been made in order to balance the budget. If THEC’s recommendations were fully funded by
the state, appropriations would be $50 million; however, UTC receives only 75%
of that amount. The state has cut appropriations of $38 million to UTC for the
past five years. UTC continues the dialogue with THEC concerning choice of peer
institutions and freshmen enrollment cap.
UT system-wide enrollment for fall 2003 was 41,586 including 8,528 at UTC
and 5,770 at UT Martin. There were 15,582 system-wide full-time positions including
1,353 at UTC and 874 at UT Martin. Of the 1,353 full-time positions at UTC, 153
were administrative and 193 were professional. Mr. Webb indicated that administrative
positions are generally those that supervise and manage various units on
campus (vice chancellors, directors, managers, etc.); professional positions are
generally exempt positions that do not supervise others, such as financial aid
counselors, admissions counselors, information technology support personnel, coaches
(with exception of head coaches), etc.
Tuition and fee comparisons to peer institutions reveal that UTC is at 111.6%
of peer average for in-state undergraduates, 107.8% for in-state graduate,
103.4% for out-of-state undergraduates, and 98.1% for out-of-state graduates.
By law, the University must close the year in the black. The 2003-04 year
end unspent funds by the Chancellor’s office were $63,498.70; Provost
$515,501.52; VC Finance, Ops & IT $146,939.98; VC Student Development
$(101,426.21); VC University Advancement $48,330.60; Athletic Director
$151,101.85. Mr. Brown pointed out that the budget in Admissions has been under
funded for many years. Approximately
$400,000 was returned to the Provost for travel and operating expenses
(one-time monies).
A three-year budget cycle has been recommended by Dr. Petersen and UTC
will view the base budget for prior reallocations and look to external and
alternative funding sources. University Advancement will soon begin an $80
million capital campaign.
Issues to address in the 2004-05 budgets are travel, research support,
operating budget deficits, and equipment for labs. For consideration in the
2005-06 budget are development of a plan to address rollover of “soft money”
for faculty positions; implementing an institutional enhancement fee and/or
athletics fee; operating deficits; SIS banner project; support staff for capital
campaign; operation and maintenance support; compensation plan for faculty and
staff.
Members are urged to email questions regarding the budget to Mr. Brown,
who said he is willing to present a line-by-line item review at another ESC
meeting.
Other Issues
§
A review of
the Mission Statement is required by SACS and the ESC has been charged with
reviewing the statement. Members are asked to review the Mission Statement and
email comments to Jean Dake or discuss at the December meeting. The ESC’s
comments will be presented to the Task Force, which will meet in January.
§
Reopening of
The ESC
endorsed a letter to Mayor Corker requesting the continued closure of
Adjournment: Motion
was made and seconded to adjourn the meeting.
Next meeting is December
14 at
Respectfully Submitted,
Melanie Sadler
Administrative Secretary
Office of Human Resources