COE BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA
June 27, 2014
8:00 – 9:30 a.m.
Hill 314
Attendees: David Hough, Cathy Weir, Paris DePaepe, Candace Fairbairn, Donna Breault, Kim Dubree, Janelle Flanders, Steve Jones, Cathy Pearman, Teresa Steele
The meeting was called to order by Dean Hough at 8:02 a.m. He then welcomed the new members of the committee:
a. Steve Jones – RFT
b. Denise Cunningham – CEFS (could not attend today)
c. Cathy Weir – GLS
d. Leslie Anderson – CLSE (could not attend today)
2. Request for funds – CDC
a. CDC is in need of new kitchen appliances and other equipment. Deanne Hallgren was able to obtain a grant that covered the cost of the equipment ($19,257), and will use a foundation account to help pay for the $15,000 anticipated cost of installation and modifications needed. However, she is still approximately $7,300 short. The equipment must be installed during the first week in August. The dean recommended the BC help cover this expense by using funds from FY14 carry forward. Cathy Pearman made a motion, seconded by Paris DePaepe, that the COE help fund the kitchen remodeling up to $10,000. The motion passed.
3. Student Teaching Supervision
a. Dean Hough started the discussion by stating he received a letter from a supervisor requesting a raise of 1.5% to the stipend received for student teacher supervision, per the latest issue of Clif’s Notes in which a 1.5% increase for full-time faculty and staff was mentioned. Dean Hough also noted that all six academic colleges at MSU have faculty and staff who supervise student teachers, so any change to the current stipend would have to be considered by the PEC, the Provost’s Academic Leadership Council, and the other deans. Currently, supervisors are paid $203.75 per student per 8 week block. The dean asked the group if information should be collected to examine the stipend issue. The dean suggested the BC contact other IHEs to see what those institutions pay their supervisors. The committee decided to contact each of the colleges in Missouri and find out what they pay their supervisors. Cathy Weir volunteered to contact all 39 or 41 EPPs in Missouri and report back to the committee at its next meeting. In the meantime, Kim Dubree will be sending a letter to the supervisors for MSU that reiterates the MSU policy that part-time employees do not get the 1.5% raise that was recently given to full-time employees. Even so, Dean Hough thinks the student teaching supervisor stipend issue should be addressed.
4. Summer School Budget
a. Teresa provided a spreadsheet with data indicating how much each faculty and per course person is paid during the summer of 2013 and 2014. The spreadsheet also detailed unit costs by
per student enrollment and student credit hour production. COE continues to exceed its annual summer school teaching budget of $275,000. Currently (Summer 2014), Dean Hough used one-time salary savings from unfilled faculty positions to cover the shortage, approximately $150,000. However, if we fill those positions in FY15, we will not have funds to cover summer teaching overages in 2015. Some suggestions for achieving this were to go to a flat rate for teaching instead of the current 2.5% of base salary, use per course rate, or come up with an average and use that figure to compute pay. The dean asked the committee if we should develop a more detailed summer school teaching policy to help COE keep within its budget. The BC agreed and recommended the dean appoint a task force to work on this issue. The BC further suggested that the members include the following: faculty who have a stake in graduate programs, faculty members with different salary levels, program coordinators, and a representative from Child & Family Development. It was requested that a spreadsheet be developed that shows individual instructor credit hour costs for each class as well as per enrollment and SCH production. The dean stressed that this issue is not related to any single faculty or small group of faculty “costing too much.” Instead, he pointed out it is a college-wide matter and should be addressed openly and candidly with the best interests of students and faculty guiding any future discussion. The dean agreed to meet with the COE administrative team to develop an approach for selecting a task force to study the issue.
Respectfully submitted,
Teresa Steele, Budget Officer
Next meeting: September 19, 2014; Hill Hall 314 8:00 a.m.