Item #11

Hamilton: Dr Collins, would you have trouble running the college based on this resolution?

Collins: No, no problem.

Hamilton; the draft budget does not reflect the priorities of this board: repossession of the Waterleaf, reduction in tuition and taxes. That is why we have Alix Partners. These steps are basic for a budget. The budget respects the educational mission of the college.

Mr Dischner, would there be any difficulty operating the college under this resolution?

Dischner: no problem. No concern.

Hamilton: I want to emphasize that these are scenarios. This is part of a process, something this board is not used to. I hope you enjoy seeing this process going on. Mr Dischner has worked for 8 business days. I want to open the floor to questions on this matter.

Bernstein: it came as a surprise to me as well that the CT said we are drafting a new budget.

Hamilton: this is a collaborative revision of the budget.

Bernstein: are there particular areas of the budget you’re looking at?

Dischner: I would hesitate to call it drafting a new budget. We’ve run some sensitivities.

Bernstein: was it at the departmental level? The line item level?

Dischner: both. Some areas might have been forecasted, looking at sensitivities in student enrollment and running several scenarios. It’s not re-drafting a budget.

McGuire: I’m concerned we don’t have any report. I’m just very disappointed.

Dischner: we’re looking at ways to make it more in line with what the board might find more readable.  The board would then choose to approve or not. I would think you would be curious as to what you would be approving. I can assure you the record-keeping is going on.

McGuire: I can’t do my due diligence without a report.

Dischner: that’s a valid question. I’ll talk to President Collins about this.

Mazzocchi: do the current reports give an accurate view of the investment schedules?

Dischner: I might choose to present to the BOT in a different format, but if you look at the internal number, it is backed up. I do think the information presented to the board is in a different format, so, there might be some confusion. So, we might want to make this more transparent.

Napolitano: 5/21 is when the budget was made available. There was a public budget meeting on 6/5, in accordance with the OMA. Members of that budget committee are myself, Paul Lefort, Claire Ball, and Charles Bernstein. The question was to separate the needs and the wants. we are trying to satisfy as much of the wants as we can, while reducing property tax and tuition. we’ll be sharing comments and ideas with Alix Partners.

Mazzocchi: [to Napolitano] needs v. wants. Were there any requests that had been turned down?

Napolitano: no. Both Glaser and Sapyta said that Breuder said that administrators can never be told no, as opposed to faculty.

Mazzocchi: what would be the process for faculty to get things through?

Collins: I would encourage faculty to continue to work through their associate deans. If the trustees have concerns, I would work with them. Even though Dr Breuder did not take specific action regarding FY16, but the SMT will do this. We will start looking at these new requests on Monday.

Wozniak: whose idea was it to have members of the public at a budget committee meeting?

Hamilton: this is not a productive question. What difference does it make?

Wozniak: none of us were asked.

Hamilton: thank you very much, Joe.

Mazzocchi: because we have these ongoing investigations, I want to make sure the budget includes a fund for that.

Hamilton: my understanding is that this is happening.

Mazzocchi: I’d like to see if we can also try to spend down bonds.

Hamilton: our preliminary discussions on that, because of the duration of the bonds, we need a better handle on the revenue stream. It’s a bigger question than an annual budget. It’s definitely a valid question but it’s part of the strategic plan. We’re gonna do that next. If you go back, you’ll see that there is a failure to look at projected v. actual and look at any variance, year after year. That’s why we have the big surplus. The point of a budget is to act as a tool but it has to be an accurate one. That’s why we’re changing our budget. That’s why we need variance analysis, so, we know where we’re going.

Item 11 – motion passes.