December 11, 2008 Provost/Vice Chancellor/Employee Forum Delegate Meeting

              It was noted that General Administration had asked the University to come up with scenarios for a 3, 5, or 7% budget cut by the end of January.  Dick Mann said that the University was investing a one-time furlough strategy, requiring employees to take five days without pay to offset cuts and layoffs.  Carolyn Elfland said that critical employees would still be expected to work during necessary days. 

              Ernie Patterson believed that employees would be willing to invest in saving one another’s jobs by donating part of their salary voluntarily.  Brenda Malone asked how these decisions would be made.  Mann said that it is easier administratively to ask employees to donate to a foundation than to donate back to the State.  Ron Strauss was impressed by the willingness of employees to make private donations.  He did not want to suggest to the State that charitable giving was the answer to the crisis.  Mann noted that Winthrop College had closed its doors for 3 days under South Carolina law.  He did not know if North Carolina had a similar law for this purpose.  Mann said that the South Carolina plan did not reduce retirement or other benefits.  Mann noted that administering a give-back program would be difficult over the long term .  He also noted that some savings would not accrue into the next year.  Elfland said that in some situations it can cost more to terminate a position than to retain it given the cash flow issues. 

              Brenda Denzler suggested administering the furlough to save 1 hour a week.  Mann said that many possible permutations exist.  Elfland said that the Governor has no authority to permanently reduce hours but can do this one time to balance the budget.  Marshall Dietz noted that cumulatively the University could be asked to absorb cuts of up to 12% in State appropriated funds.  Elfland said that most state funds come from academic areas.  Mann said that the University cannot layoff tenured faculty and will receive enrollment growth money.  He said that the University will likely not have authority to raise tuition this year.  Mann noted that all University endowment monies had lost 30% in value this year.  Dietz suggested seeking energy savings.

              Michael McQuown noted that donated computers are gathering dust.  He said that he had not heard a substantive argument against placing computers in housekeepers’ work areas for their use.  He said that the computers could be configured to access e-mail, MS Office, and web browsing, with software controls to prevent installation of inappropriate materials.  Elfland said that these discussions had occurred over a year.  She said that these computers are not needed for many employees’ jobs.  She said that the proposed computers would create more work for campus IT.  McQuown said that the campus prided itself on being fully connected.  He said that removing housekeepers from this environment left them as second-class citizens.  Patterson said that in Biology, computers in break rooms had not seen overuse and were monitored.  Elfland said that housekeepers are not second class citizens noting that police and grounds employees also do not have direct access to computers.  Malone said that the drive for computer literacy had led some to believe that there would be access to computers through training areas.  Elfland said that employees like Tommy Griffin can access computers in their home shops.  Mann wondered if the computers could be installed without cost.  Elfland did not want to place the burden on IT staff to work with these older machines.  Mann said that some areas may already have discretion.  He asked for alternatives by late April or early May.

              Dietz asked how the State could continue to function when its companies have cut employment and benefits down to near zero.  Denzler noted that tenured faculty cannot be laid off.  Strauss noted the number of fixed term legal contracts that limit cuts in faculty contracts.