University Budget Advisory Committee (UBAC)
Meeting Notes
August 4, 2009, 2:00-4:00 p.m.
Sacramento Hall Annex, Conference Room
Members Present: Fred Baldini, Paul Edwards, Scott Farrand, Lillie Jones, Ming-Tung (Mike)
Lee, Laureen O’Hanlon, Steve Perez (Chair), Shawn Smith, James Sobredo
Members Absent: Robert (Bob) Buckley, Jimmy Tsang
Others Present: Stacy Hayano (BPA), Norman Kwong (BPA)
Open Forum: The committee noted that a President’s Town Hall Meeting would occur on
Thursday (August 6th). The campus budget will be the central topic, so the presence of Steve
and one other UBAC member was requested by the President. Mike and James both said they
would be present at the meeting.
Agenda Discussion: Last spring, UBAC produced a preliminary 2009-10 budget
recommendation based on the information available at the time; however, the situation has
changed greatly since then. These changes include the passing of a revised state budget which
contains extensive cuts to the CSU, ensuing compensatory measures such as an additional
20% increase in student fees, and the implementating of employee furloughs. With these
factors in place, the campus’ budget situation has now largely stabilized. Therefore, UBAC
plans to revise their recommendations such that summary information may be distributed by the
President to the campus at the aforementioned Town Hall Meeting.
Stacy began discussions with a review of an updated Sources and Uses document. With the
recent passing of a revised state budget, the Chancellor’s Office (CO) was able to deliver a
revised budget allocation memo to the campuses. After Stacy integrated this latest information
into the Sources and Uses, the preliminary campus deficit was estimated to be $32.6 million
(this amount already reflects the two student fee increases). Of this amount, the CO estimates
our campus will reduce expenditures by $16.0 million in one-time furlough reductions, leaving
the campus with an unaddressed deficit of $16.6 million for 2009-10.
The committee discussed the transparency of this $16.6 million deficit figure, since it includes
university commitments. In particular, the CalSTRS annual lease was discussed since it
amounts to $5.7 million. University Enterprises, Inc. had originally intended that half of the
lease would be covered by rents to outside agencies, while the other half would be paid by the
University (since CalSTRS would house various university programs, including Nursing and
Speech Pathology). Furthermore, a portion of the University’s half would be temporarily covered
by the CO, since the CO had previously agreed to assist the university via a temporary subsidy
(the amount of the subsidy was to be calculated on a sliding scale over 4 years). With the recent
economic recession, it has been difficult for UEI to find a tenant for CalSTRS. In addition, since
the long-term financing of the CalSTRS building has not yet taken place, the CO subsidy portion
is not yet known. Therefore, for budget planning purposes the university must assume a worst
case scenario wherein the university is responsible for the entire $5.7 million lease amount.
Using the $16.6 million figure as a starting point for discussions, various methods of addressing
the deficit were discussed. In an effort to minimize cuts distributed to campus divisions, the
committee decided to review All University Expenses (AUE) one more time to identify any
further savings. Some savings were identified, which reduced the unaddressed deficit to $16.4
million.
At this point, time ran out and the committee resolved to finish discussions the next day.
Future Meetings (tentative schedule): All meetings are to be held in the Sac Hall Annex
Conference Room, unless otherwise noted.
1. Wednesday (8/5/09), 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.