Labor-Management Council Minutes
Meeting Date: March 7, 2014
President’s Conference Room, Tod Hall
In Attendance: Dr. Annette Burden, Council Co-Chair (OEA); John Beshara, Chief of Police,
YSU (FOP); Catie Carney, President, Student Government; Connie Frisby (ACE); Lonnie
Gentry (ACE); Michael Glonek (APAS); Neal McNally, Interim Vice President for Finance and
Administration; Kevin Reynolds, Chief Human Resources Officer; Dr. Teri Riley, Associate
Provost; Dr. Helene Sinnreich (OEA); Michael Slavens, Vice President, Student Government;
Dr. Stephanie Smith (Director, Faculty Relations); Gary Swegan, Associate Vice President
for Enrollment Planning and Management; and Christine Bidwell, Office of VP for Finance
and Administration.
Enrollment Update
Mr. Swegan noted that he has been in his position for 3½ months now. He began by sharing
his assessment of what he sees at this point in time. Enrollment was down 3.1% for fall
2013 and is down 1.1% for spring 2014. The change in enrollment for spring is usually the
same as it was for fall semester. Looking at where we were in 2010, Mr. Swegan feels we
can expect one more challenging year. The historical data shows that the 2013 headcount is
higher than any year from 1995-2006. The negative economy from 2007-2010 drove
enrollment up over 15,000 (a 12.57% increase and the highest (2010) since 1990).
With the changes in student enrollment, Mr. Swegan added that we need to be mindful of
the fact that “bad debt” increased from $300k to $3M, we are working with a new state
funding model, the graduation rate of conditional admits is less than five per cent, and
effective last fall we transitioned from an open admission institution to open access.
Negative factors affecting YSU’s enrollment include declining demographics in Ohio,
expansion of conditional admissions, Eastern Gateway Community College, and lack of
university housing. We will be doing everything possible to maximize opportunities for
enrollment for fall 2014. Those opportunities include new scholarship programs, the
approval of a new Distance Education Student Specialist position who will follow students
from admission to graduation, the addition of new degree programs in Distance Education,
growth in the College in High School Program, a new First Opportunity Award, the
assignment of an admissions counselor to Eastern Gateway, and the new Veteran’s Center.
25.06% (504/2,011) of the 2013 class came from six schools (Boardman, Fitch, Poland,
Hubbard, Canfield and Struthers), and 39.63% (797) came from the top 15 schools
(Howland, Mooney, Harding, McKinley, Liberty, Ursuline, YEC, Girard).
Dr. Sinnreich shared her concern regarding the need to redesign courses for Distance
Education as changes occur in the technology programs, for example, WEB CT moved to
Blackboard. Dr. Burden indicated that the monies raised in the first two years of the
Distance Education program didn’t even cover the director’s salary, and she feels that the
addition of another person in that department is an added burden to the deficit. Dr. Riley
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noted that the funding for this position came from other positions that have been
eliminated and offered to send additional information about this to the group.
Mr. Glonek asked about the use of media to increase enrollment and would like to see
media marketing relative to specific programs. Mr. Swegan noted that YSU’s resources are
much smaller than Kent State’s ($372,000 compared to KSU’s in the millions).
When asked about international student recruitment, Mr. Swegan indicated that the total
applications are down a little bit, but this should increase some in the next four years. By
2025-2026, demographic projections show that enrollment will be down significantly; the
primary catalyst is based on the birthrate.
Dr. Burden asked about keeping records on application sources, since she saw an ad for
YSU on a billboard in the Columbus area. Mr. Swegan will check to see what sources are
being tracked.
Budget Update
Mr. McNally reported that despite a projected budget deficit of approximately $6.6 million
this year, the deficit-reduction plan that has been developed and put into action is showing
signs of success. Some of the most significant components of the plan have already been
executed, not the least of which are reductions in operating budgets totaling more than
$1.4 million, and an additional $750,000 in deferred technology expenses. In addition, in
spite of the cold temperatures, we’ve been successful at mitigating some energy costs by
negotiated changes to our payment structure for purchased steam with Youngstown
Thermal, primarily by making payments in advance.
Another piece of the deficit-reduction plan was to improve spring semester enrollment. As
Mr. Swegan reported, we were successful in meeting this goal. In fact, we exceeded our
spring goal with just over 10,000 FTE or 12,823 headcount. And as reported, one of the
drivers of the improved spring enrollment numbers was exponential growth in our college
in high school students. While that’s clearly a positive trend, the revenue impact isn’t as
great, because the CHS rate is $49 per credit hour, which is much lower than the rate for
traditional undergraduates ($329/SCH). Although we hit our spring enrollment goal, we
fell a little short in hitting the spring revenue goal.
Finally, one of the biggest pieces of our reduction plan is to curb non-essential operating
expenses by deferring or limiting everything from business travel to office supplies. A fairly
ambitious target of over $2.8 million in savings was established. This is ambitious not only
because of the dollar value, but more so because we’re hoping to hit this target not by
making budget reductions, but rather by placing our trust in financial managers across
campus to be extra cautious when it comes to approving any sort of spending. The
voluntary furloughs and vacation day give backs were projected to be $230,000; $204,000
was the actual amount realized. We are hoping the new practice of allowing financial
managers to carry forward excess funds at the end of the fiscal year will make it even more
achievable.
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The Budget Development Council met earlier in the week, and the Finance and Facilities
Committee of the Board of Trustees approved a 2.3% increase in tuition for
undergraduates and a 3.0% increase for graduates in FY 2015. This will be presented to the
full Board next week.
Dr. Sinnreich noted that Kent State is implementing the creation of additional associate
degrees to generate added revenue in light of the State’s funding formula for degree
completion. Mr. McNally said OBOR will have to assess this practice, and the public
universities’ revenue is based on a three year moving average. We may have a new funding
formula by that time. It may be a marketing advantage to Kent State but not a big benefit to
funding over the long-term. (25% of our funding comes from the State; 75% comes from
tuition.)
Rumors/Check-In Updates
Ms. Frisby said she received a phone call indicating that layoffs had been announced in
Procurement. Mr. Reynolds stated that with the current deficit, there is the potential for
additional layoffs; however, nothing official has been announced.
Dr. Riley reported that Dr. Khawaja will be named Interim President officially on March 17.
Some discussion followed regarding the selection of Jim Tressel as the next President. It
was announced that the University of Akron expects to make an announcement regarding
the selection of their next president by the end of this month.
A question was asked about the continuation of services in Maag Library if there were any
additional reductions in income. Mr. McNally stated that funding would be reallocated if
necessary.
Budget Taskforce
Dr. Burden, Ms. Frisby, and Mr. Glonek are members of the Budget Taskforce and said they
felt they worked well together with administration. They learned a lot, liked the open lines
of communication, and felt that they had the opportunity to address the fiscal challenges
the University is facing by proposing and brainstorming ideas. They commended Dr. Dunn
and Mr. Grilli for the timely response they gave when information was requested as well as
their willingness to collaborate together with the union representatives. They would like
to see the Taskforce continue with the new administration. Although the Taskforce
members didn’t always agree, they had collegial discussions on everything and felt it was
an opportunity to develop a new level of communication and trust.
Dr. Sinnreich asked if the Council members could continue to get detailed budget updates
in the Labor Management Council meetings if the Budget Taskforce does not continue. Mr.
McNally indicated that he would do that.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 10:15 a.m.
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Agenda Items for the Next Meeting
1) Check-In Updates
2) Budget Update
3) Searches Update
Please send additional agenda items to both Dr. Riley and Dr. Burden prior to the meeting.
Next Labor Management Council Meeting:
Respectfully submitted,
Christine Bidwell, Recorder
Friday, May 2, 2013, 9:00 a.m.
President’s Conference Room