COE BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
September 29, 2017
8:00 – 9:30 a.m.
PCOB 127
Attendees: Brittany Wittenberg, James Meyer, Kim Dubree, Macy Hankel, Abby Burch, Steve Jones, Teresa Steele, David Hough, Linda Garrison-Kane, James Satterfield, Emmett Sawyer, Denise Cunningham, Cathy Pearman, Bill Agnew.
The meeting began at 8:00 a.m. with Dean Hough sharing the tentative future meeting dates and locations. All present felt those dates and times would work. Dean Hough noted that the BC may be asked to meet to discuss State budget impacts on IHEs in the spring of 2018, as has been the case in the past.
The committee agreed to support Study Away, pending an amount. The Dean noted that it had been about $5,000 over the past 2 – 3 years, but the COE Budget Officer did not have an amount at this time as requested from Elizabeth Strong.
The dean then discussed the overall FY18 COE budget and explained how the discretionary part of the budget is determined. This is typically done by June 30 prior to the budget year starting on July 1. The dean indicated that COE is currently doing well budget-wise, but we need to look over the discretionary part of the budget and see if the funds are best used where they are currently located or if the funds need to be moved. The dean explained that most of the carryforward funds we have are located in Onetime Salary Savings, which are funds that occur from the salary not used of an employee who has left until their position has been filled. Once a search as started, the funds to cover the salary are encumbered from Salary Savings.
The committee then discussed the two Program Support Requests that have been received. The dean noted that typically the Faculty Advisory looks at these first, but because of meeting schedules the BC is reviewing prior to the FAC meeting later in October. The first request discussed was from Child Life. It included items requested to start a new program – the MS in Child Life Studies. Denise Cunningham was able to discuss and answer questions. The second Program Support from SAHE. The program is seeking funds to start a customizable Doctoral Ed.D. program and Dr. Satterfield shared the information and answered questions. It was pointed out by Dr. Linda Garrison Kane that there are two graduate program requests that have been sent to the Graduate College for request for funding. One is a request from Special Education and the other is an Ed Tech Masters program. Dean Hough noted that if these are accepted they will require a COE match, which would also come out of the Program Support funds account. Teresa Steele suggested that when voting the committee should assume that we might be encumbered for up to $10,000 for these two program requests. In response to a questions as to what happens if the two graduate programs do not get funding from the Graduate College, and it was suggested that they apply for Program Support Funds. Dr. Bill Agnew moved to approve all four requests and Dr. Brittany Wittenberg seconded and the motion carried. Dr. Agnew also noted that in the future the requests for Program Support Funds for new programs need to indicate a marketing plan. Dean Hough suggested adding something to the request form that is on the COE website. He also noted that the Faculty Advisory Committee had developed the original form, so he will bring it up in that committee. Dr. Agnew moved that the form be revised, Dr. Cathy Pearman seconded and the motion carried.
Dean Hough then asked the committee to prioritize the use of the discretionary funds we currently have. The BC developed a list of ideas. Dean Hough will have the Budget Officer email this list to BC members so they can prioritize same using a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is a low priority and 10 is the highest priority.
- University Mission and goals
- Rural Education Center
- Increasing student retention
- Recruitment of students into programs
- Track into the workforce (Note: This is required for CAEP and is also a University initiative. Ideas for doing this include using the following:)
- Qualtrixx
- Argos
- Taskstream
- DESE
- Social media
- School districts where our grads are employed
- Create an Education major organization
- Bear UP – increase scope to rural areas
- Internship Academy – give student teacher interns a stipend or other support.
- Student focus group to get their input on best ideas for recruitment, retention, and follow-up post-graduation
- Retain/support new faculty
- Start Up funds
- Summer Teaching
- Research Support
- Graduate Assistants
- Student Travel
- Equity Adjustment
- Sabbaticals
- Hiring new faculty
- Hiring new staff
- Program supports
- Special projects
The dean asked everyone to continue to come up with ideas as this topic will be an ongoing discussion. The Budget Office will poll the BC members to prioritize the list.
The next item discussed was the Major Equipment Requests that are due to the Office of the Provost by October 9, 2017. These requests must be prioritized prior to sending. There were four requests submitted and discussed. Dr. Bill Agnew motioned to prioritize the requests and this was seconded by Dr. Linda Garrison-Kane. Below they are listed by priority order voted on by the committee:
- Live audio recruiting software, HIPAA compliance secure software for use within the Center City Counseling Clinic.
- iPads and GraphPad Prism for student research off campus for Special Education students.
- Chromebook cart and Chromebooks to use with teachers to replicate what they will be using in the schools – RFT.
- 3D printer – ELE
Teresa briefly discussed the website tripoptimizer.org to be used to determine the cheapest method of travel. The website link will be sent to all department heads. The dean suggested that a policy be developed for COE travel that determines specifically how to determine which method of travel to use, and the committee agreed.
The next meeting is scheduled for October 27, 2017, at 8:00 a.m. in PCOB 127.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:35 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Teresa Steele, Budget Officer