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Eastern Ad-Hoc Budget Committee
Minutes
September 28, 2011
Connecticut Room, Gelsi-Young Hall

 

Attendance: Dave Bachand, Pat Banach, Karyl Bulmer, Karen Collins, David Cummings, Dennis Hannon, Jim Howarth, Drew Hyatt, Kristin Jacobi, Brian Lashley, Terry Lennox, David Mariasi, Diane Moore, Elsa Núñez, Katie Roome, Dimitrios Pachis, Michael Pernal, William Salka, David Stoloff, Robert Wolf

Absent: Pat Christadore, Maryanne Clifford, Suzanne Dowling, William Newell

Meeting commenced at 10:00 am

Motion to accept the revised minutes of the previous meeting (Collins, Mariasi - Passed)

Welcome and Board of Regents Update – President Núñez

  • The October Board of Trustees meeting at Eastern has been cancelled. The September meeting met quorum, but had a soft attendance. The new Board of Regents (BOR) will take over January 1.
  • President Núñez attended a BOR meeting at the Community College Building. The BOR President Bob Kennedy announced that he will be taking tours of all 17 campuses. He will be touring Eastern on Monday, October 31 from 9:00-3:00.
  • Four community college presidents along with President Núñez met with Governor Malloy for an hour to talk about the role of higher education. The Governor wants all the state and community colleges to be involved in job creation and employability. He is concerned about articulation in transfer and believes the state colleges don’t accept transfer credits from the community colleges well. He also feels that teacher education at the state colleges is failing and views UCONN’s program as exemplary. UCONN certifies at the graduate level, which seems to be the national trend.

Concessions Agreement Update – Mike Pernal

  • Over 90% of Eastern’s eligible employees have signed up for the state’s Health Enhancement Program.
  • A memo from the Office of the State Comptroller’s Retirement Services Division came out on September 27 regarding the new SERS Hybrid retirement plan and employees who want to retire effective October 1 under the new plan. The state is months away from implementing the new plan and therefore benefits will be delayed for those retiring October 1 under the Hybrid Plan.
  • The SAG agreement is awaiting an IRS ruling and could take up to 5 years before the ruling is received.

FY 2012 Budget Status – Jim Howarth and Dennis Hannon

  • Jim shared copies of Worksheet 7-A and 7-B of the Revised FY12 Spending Plan, an updated Summary of Changes to the worksheets, and a History of the FY 12 Budget. Revisions included reductions in the State Appropriations and Fringe Benefits Paid by State totaling $2,830,526.
  • Dennis passed out a copy of the Fall 2011 Final Enrollment from the Admissions Office. Eastern’s total enrollment is down .36% from Fall 2010. Enrollment at Southern and Western is also down by 3.5% and 2.7% respectively. Part-time numbers and graduate enrollment are down nationwide.
  • CSU will be charging a 2.5% credit card convenience fee beginning October 1. Postcards were mailed to students’ home addresses and emails were sent out last week to advise everyone of the charge. Trends show that most will switch to ACH as their form of payment.

New Business – General Discussion All

  • There were many comments on how well the ceremony for the tenth anniversary of 9-1 was.

Next meeting will be held on November 4 at 10:00 in the Connecticut Room, Gelsi-Young Hall.

Meeting adjourned at 11:25 am

Respectfully submitted,

Karyl Bulmer
Financial Specialist