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TOWN HALL MEETINGSSEPTEMBER 30, 2008 At each session, Sonia Marcus, Sustainability Coordinator, presented information on HB 251, the state’s legislation that encourages state agencies to strive to achieve reductions in their energy intensity. This material will be presented to the Board of Trustees for action on Thursday, October 2. QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS: 7:30 meeting: Are we going to build more or renovate in future? 10 Year plan shows ARC is the last new building – balance of the plan is renovation. Is there any possibility of another retirement buyout? It is possible but there are no plans presently to do another buyout. Did we recently buy property at the airport? We are looking at properties bordering the airport that are necessary to carry out some newer educational activities and also will provide an additional buffer zone for the airspace. The total is < 12 acres and the FAA will pay 95% of the purchase prices with the 5% balance from the university. UPDATE: Enrollments -> good news. Retention up 2%; enrollment up 1%; more non-resident and international students paying out-of-state tuition; regional campuses up approximately 600 students Are upgrades to dorm wardrobes on West Green (James) being budgeted? After upgrading of beds and desks, the wardrobes are an embarrassment. (Christine) Robin Faires is looking at the details of wardrobe upgrades with future minor renovation moneys. Are educational benefits to employees being reconsidered as part of budget cuts? BPC is looking at our educational benefits vs our Ohio public peers. We are not doing away with the benefit but have looked at the differences between our plan and others – such as, we have no maximum age cap on who is entitled to the benefit. 1:00 meeting: Why were monies taken out of the Grounds budget prior to equipment purchases? Steve Mack indicated he knew nothing about that and would follow up with the employee on specifics of the question. How does the current fiscal environment impact the ability of our students to get student loans? Our bursar’s office reports that a couple of the big banks are getting out of the student loan business. Forces beyond the state of Ohio are causing this and we aren’t sure how this will impact enrollments but are watching. With the hiring freeze, will the 4 custodian positions be posted? Guidance provided on the hiring freeze indicates that positions that will be filled within custodial services are OK to post. Postings that go ‘out’ will be caught in the freeze process. The hiring freeze does not have an end date - it is open-ended. Why do we do renovations that cause us to lose bed spaces? (Christine) During renovations additional space is required for standardized mechanical systems and also space may be dedicated to programming within the dorm. Bill interjected with facts on high school demographics and the fact that we have hit the peak of high school graduates. What is the current Auxiliary renovation schedule? Shively now, Jefferson next. Jefferson to start in 2011 and will be a 3 year project. What is the status of the Student Health Center project? The preliminary design work identified that the building was too expensive the way it was originally conceived. UMA and COM are exploring their options with the medical clinic. Hudson Health renovation is being explored and will be included in the 10 Year capital planning process in place at the university and the project will be evaluated and prioritized with other campus projects. Will the new Nursing program in Athens cause the elimination of the Zanesville program? No, the Athens program will start next fall with class sizes of 100 for a traditional BSN degree (bachelors in nursing). The regional offerings are ‘completer’ programs for those who have received an associates degree at a community or 2 year college. What will happen with the OASIS? The residence and dining halls and Baker Center operations are the priority for our auxiliary spending. We’ve discussed tear down and going out with RFPs for the site but any decision is currently on – hold. 4:45 meeting: How many more custodial jobs will be cut? New space coming on, such as ARC, will have staffing needs built into the budget. Baker budget was built around 12 FTE and we are employing 12 FTE. |
