To: All University Faculty and Staff
From: Academic Planning Committee (APC)
Date: Thursday, September 16, 2010
Subject: APC Budget Hearing - Final FY11 Budget Reduction Items - College of Engineering
The Academic Planning Committee recently completed the second round of budget hearings on September 3, 2010 which focused on those FY11 reductions identified as mainly affecting academics (To review previous campus correspondence please visit the Chancellor's Budget Reduction web page http://www.unl.edu/ucomm/chancllr/2010budget/).
The final hearing date is scheduled for September 29, 2010, and will focus on reductions items identified by the College of Engineering. The specifics are provided below. This hearing provides an opportunity for concerns to be voiced publicly. No one is required to attend this hearing and participation and attendance is optional.
The task of the Academic Planning Committee (APC) is to review the Chancellor's proposed cuts in light of their probable impact on the university's academic mission and approve them or suggest other ways of meeting the budget reduction goal. To accomplish this task, the APC welcomes information from all who may be affected by the proposed reductions. Affected persons may submit information in two ways:
1) In person during the scheduled budget hearing (September 29, 2010) and/or
2) In writing submitted directly to the APC for consideration.
The APC requests that, in order to coordinate the hearings schedule, all individuals wishing to respond to the proposals submit a written notice of intent to appear (see instructions below). This notice of intent is nonbinding and an individual or unit that expresses the intent to appear may later decline (Please note that one who does not submit such a notice of intent may still be heard at the hearing but will probably have less time compared to those who file a notice of intent). Once the quantity of presenters is known, a schedule of times for presentation will be published.
September 29, 2010 APC Budget Hearing Session (scheduled from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m.)
Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs:
College of Engineering (Removal of staff lines) [$200,000] (Item tabled at September 3, 2010 Hearing until final Hearing, to be held on September 29, 2010.)
College of Engineering Lincoln Action Budget Reduction
Administrative Specialist Eliminate Line $54,634
Comments: Eliminated grant proposal position within the Dean's office. Staff moved into vacant grant development role within the Electrical Engineering department. This change limits the capacity of the Dean's office to provide generalized grant proposal development support.
Vacant Recruiting Coordinator Eliminate Line $56,955
Comments: Eliminated vacant recruiting coordinator position within the Dean's office. This change limits the capacity of the Dean's office to provide full range of undergraduate and graduate recruiting support as in the past, but internal re-assignment of staff in support of international programs intended to partially offset.
O/S lines shifted to Prof Fees Eliminate Line $24,095
Comments: Applied portion of professional fees to achieve budget reduction target. This change reduces professional fee funding available to enhance the student learning experience via scholarships, educational equipment needs, and similar uses.
College of Engineering Omaha Action Budget Reduction
Lab Mechanic II 1 FTE RIF or Soft Funds $49,441
Comments: RIF of Staffing in used support of lab. Lab will be re-assigned with costs associated with its use charged out in a manner similar to the college's Engineering Shop. College will evaluate bringing back one of these two positions as part of that revolving funding model. Employees that become unfunded will be RIF'ed end of Fall semester for the lab, including equipment maintenance, increased demand for the use of students labor, and additional strain on operating budgets for units funding this new expense.
Lab Mechanic II .33 FTE RIF or Soft Funds $14,875
Comments: RIF of Staffing in used support of lab. Lab will be re-assigned with costs associated with its use charged out in a manner similar to the college's Engineering Shop. College will evaluate bringing back one of these two positions as part of that revolving funding model. Employees that become unfunded will be RIF'ed end of Fall semester for the lab, including equipment maintenance, increased demand for the use of students labor, and additional strain on operating budgets for units funding this new expense.
Please note that "Identify efficiencies through reorganization and strategic reductions to programs - the Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and the Dean of the College to conduct a study to determine whether the programs in Industrial and Management Systems Engineering (IMSE) should be eliminated" has been eliminated and replaced with the above removal of staff lines)
Below outlines the steps for those who wish to participate in this process.
To Present Testimony at a Scheduled Budget Hearing
A budget hearing is scheduled for September 29, 2010.
Written Notice of Intent to Appear
- The written notice of intent to appear must identify the meeting at which the party prefers to appear and must contain the specific budget reduction(s) that the presenter intends to discuss, the name of the presenter, and contact information for the presenter. The written notice may also include the written statement discussed below; this may materially affect the impact of the presentation.
The notice of intent should be sent to the Academic Planning Committee, c/o Dr. William Nunez, APC Secretary, 332 Canfield Administration Building, 0435 or wnunez2@unl.edu, by 3:00 p.m., September 24, 2010.
To Submit a Formal Written Response to Budget Reduction Proposals
Written responses to budget reduction proposals are also welcome and can be quite insightful and helpful to APC members during the review. For written responses please:
- Include the reduction item that is being addressed.
- Include the name and phone number of the individual(s), and department, or unit head submitting the response.
- Limit written responses to two pages or less.
- Refer to the "Criteria Section" of the Procedures to be Invoked for Significant Budget Reallocations and Reductions for guidance. This document is located at: http://www.unl.edu/apc/docs/Budget_Reduction_Procedures.pdf. Refer to particular sections if you are making an argument that reduction or elimination or reorganization is inadvisable.
Please direct written responses to the Academic Planning Committee, c/o Dr. William Nunez, APC Secretary, 332 Canfield Administration Building, 0435, or wnunez2@unl.edu, by 3:00 p.m., September 24, 2010.
Upon evaluation of the initial written responses, APC may request further information in the form of expanded reports. Additionally, based on reduction proposals, written responses and expanded reports received, APC may invite representatives from affected departments or units to appear at a hearing of the APC to clarify issues raised by the written responses or expanded reports.
Please be aware that budget hearings are open to anyone: faculty, staff, students and the general public. Open times will be designated at the end of the sessions for those wanting to make a statement who have not previously provided a notice of intent to appear. However, we encourage individuals to submit a notice of intent to ensure time is available.
It is the desire of the APC to have a process that is open and inclusive and that also provides ample opportunity for members of the campus community to express their concerns regarding these budget proposals. Therefore, every possible effort will be made to communicate the ongoing actions of the APC to the UNL community as well as to be open and available to those seeking assistance.
Again, a budget hearing is scheduled for September 29, 2010. The agenda and times will be announced on September 28, 2010. This budget hearing will be held in the Jackie Gaughan Multicultural Center on City Campus and room will be posted under "Academic Planning Committee Budget Hearing."
Sincerely,
Jennifer I. Brand, Ph.D.
Professor, Engineering Research Center, College of Engineering and
Chair of the Academic Planning Committee
More details at: http://go.unl.edu/zib