Memorandum
DATE:
TO:
FROM:
SUBJECT:
April 16, 2015
Dean Shane Burgess
Susan McGinley, chair, CALS Appointed Professionals Council
Suggested Measures for FY16 Teaching and Research Budget Cut
Overview of Appointed Professionals in CALS
There are 165 academic professionals and 86 service professionals in CALS. We are part of many teams
throughout the college, supporting and advancing all three areas of the CALS land-grant mission of
teaching, research and extension.
Appointed Professionals include a wide range of mission-critical positions such as academic advisor;
assistant, associate, full and area extension agent; assistant research scientist; assistant staff scientist;
associate specialist; specialist; coordinator; manager; analyst; research associate; senior scientist;
associate and assistant dean; director; assistant and associate director and executive director;
professional development director; oral health professional; program coordinator; program director;
program manager; project manager; science writer and editor; software engineer; and superintendent.
Introduction
In response to your request, active members of the CALS Appointed Professionals Council, including
those who are attending the UA Appointed Professionals Advisory Council (APAC) meetings, met last
week to develop suggestions for the upcoming FY16 Teaching and Research Budget cut for CALS.
We understand that this budget cut is a tremendous hardship, so we are proposing a combination of
strategies to save, cut, and earn money. Simultaneously, our proposed strategies preserve our core
mission and retain the workforce across CALS, including faculty, staff and appointed professionals, so
that we are still enabled and empowered to deliver the best teaching and research possible.
Rather than presenting exact dollar figures, we name categories where money can be saved. These are
not ranked in any type of preference and cover two broad categories: people and property.
Salary Adjustments
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Consider sharing a percentage of a position with a smaller workload with other departments or
colleges before eliminating it.
Salary reduction of 1-2 percent across the board for faculty, staff and appointed professionals
to retain all positions.
Furlough days could be implemented.
Soft money: Hire people into a job with the expectation that they are self-generating. Soft
money may work for some positions but not all. Research faculty could perhaps put a certain
percentage of their salary on the grant if the sponsor allows.
Apply a salary reduction of 1-2 percent to upper level administrators at the UA. This suggestion
has been voiced not only in CALS but also across other parts of campus and by members of the
public in Tucson.
Maximization of Instructional Resources
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Incentivize stipends for summer session and intersession courses. Make instructional payouts
contingent upon the number of credit hours and the number of students taught per course. This
is in lieu of paying instructors a flat fee for each course regardless of credit/student numbers.
For instance: “For every unit you teach, you’ll get $300.” Attracting more students would result
in more revenue per course.
Create and promote more career-building minors and certificate programs for graduates and
undergraduates to attract more students, including nontraditional audiences. Would collect
revenue on both fees and direct RCM revenue from additional student credit hours. This also
opens the door for building a community and bridge between students and working students.
Hold one-off workshops and trainings, especially for departments that aren’t very big, again to
recruit students and collect revenue from fees. This again builds community and brand as well.
Look at course expenses such as a $250 duplicating fee per academic course that could be
reduced or eliminated.
Strategies to Optimize Business Workflow
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Streamline paperwork. The number of transactions and the number of people to check them to
get something done—when processing documents. Some documents go through numerous
offices for approval. Could this workflow be streamlined yet still functionally accurate?
Determine if some policies/procedures/assignments are no longer relevant. If any assignments
are based on tradition instead of relevance to the college mission, they need to be re-evaluated.
Maximization of Land, Space and Equipment Resources
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Reduce utility usage: Turn off or reduce utilities in rooms that are not used, if possible. A lot of
unused space is lit, heated and cooled. Adjust the AC in our buildings to be adequate but not
cold, causing people to wear sweaters indoors in summer.
Rent out space in our buildings to other entities on campus. Many rooms are empty or
underutilized.
Lease or sell off land we are not using, i.e., the plot of unused land directly south of the turf
center on Roger Road that used to have dairy cows on it; empty land or buildings at the West
Campus Ag Center, etc.
Optimize farm sales at all agricultural centers through plant and animal production.
Lease or sell off equipment we are not using. Equipment that is unused or still good—perhaps
abandoned by faculty who have left—could be sold to high schools, perhaps, or other entities.
Share equipment—such as sequencers—instead of buying separately and letting it sit. Create a
core facility where scientists would pay only for what they need. Instead of buying a lot of new
equipment for new faculty that duplicates what we already have close by, note in the offer
letter that they can have, say, 30 hours of processing time in a core facility.
Closing Comments
CALS has been cut nearly 20 times since 1990 and has learned to live with less for a long time. Thus
cutting mainly jobs at this point will not result in a more efficient workplace. That is why we propose a
combination approach to the cuts. When faculty and unit heads address budget issues with the sense
that “we are in this together” and work as teams with appointed professionals and staff in various
areas of CALS, win-win solutions can be found that will help us move forward in conducting and
supporting quality teaching and research. We thank you for considering our suggestions and would be
happy to discuss them further with you or answer any questions.