Minutes of the University Budget Committee

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, FRESNO
5240 N. Jackson Avenue, M/S UC 43
Fresno, California 93740-8023
Office of the Academic Senate Ext. 8-2743

March 25, 2009

Members Present: J. Kus (Chair), N. Bengiamin, J. Constable,
E. Junn, A. Parham, J. Parks, T. Wielicki.

Members Absent: J. Hironaka-Juteau (excused).

Visitors: P. Newell ,G. Srinivasan.

The meeting was called to order by Chair J. Kus at 3:35 p.m. in the University
Center # 203.

  1. Minutes. MSC to approve the Minutes of 3/11/2009.
  2. Agenda. MSC to approve the Agenda as distributed.
  3. Communications and Announcements.
    1. Copies of memos from Academic Senate Vice Chair M. Caldwell were
      received, indicating the election of P. Newell and re-election of
      J. Hironaka-Juteau to the University Budget Committee (UBC).
    2. A memo from Academic Senate Chair M. Botwin to J. Kus, dated
      3/11/09, regarding Policy on Assessment of Teaching Effectiveness
      (APM 322) was received. Agenda item for 4/1/09.
  4. New Business.
    There was none.
  5. Open discussion of Proposed Academic Year 09-10 Budget Cuts.
    The committee had a wide-ranging discussion of the 2009-10 Budget Plan
    that was sent to the UBC by President Welty (with a request for a response
    by April 3rd). There was some discussion of the “Principles for Budget
    Plans,” with focus on whether any of the principles should take precedence
    over others. It was agreed that all of the principles should have equal
    weight in review of the budget plan.
    G. Srinivasan noted problems with the farm budget and the difficulty of
    meeting some state mandates. For example, a recent request from state
    General Services requires individual accounting, on a monthly basis, of
    every campus vehicle. The person who has maintained such records for
    farm operations now has to do it for all campus vehicles — a tremendous
    workload increase for a part time employee. This is just one example of an
    unfunded mandate that has budget implications.
    One suggestion that was discussed was the possibility of the elimination of
    remedial classes. Associate Provost E. Junn noted that there is some
    system action possibly coming down related to “proficiency in the first
    year.”
    Several committee members noted the proliferation of “centers” that may
    not be central to the campus mission and that are not funded by outside
    sources.
    It was noted that some of the proposed budget cuts will negatively impact
    faculty research efforts and/or the recruitment of new faculty. The
    unintended consequences of some of the proposals were also discussed.
    There was a wide-ranging discussion of how the library selects journals for
    paper versus on-line purchase. P. Newell noted that many of the on-line
    journals are part of large packages that may include some journals that are
    very popular and others that might not be used extensively on this campus.
    The discussion of the budget plan will continue next week.

MSC to adjourn at 5:06 p.m.

The next University Budget Committee meeting will be on Wednesday, April 1,
2009 at 3:30 p.m. in the University Center #203.

Agenda.

  1. Approval of the Minutes of 3/25/2009.
  2. Approval of the Agenda.
  3. Communications and Announcements.
  4. New Business.
  5. (APM 322) Policy on Assessment of Teaching Effectiveness.
  6. Open discussion of Proposed Academic Year 09-10 Budget Cuts.

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