May 9, 2024 PRESIDENT’S BUDGET ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Minutes
PRESIDENT'S BUDGET ADVISORY COMMITTEE
May 9th, 2024
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Karen Moranski - Provost, Vice President of Academic Affairs; Chair
Troi Carleton - Dean, School of Social Sciences
Laura Krier - Chair of the Faculty, University Library
Emily Acosta Lewis - Vice-Chair of the Faculty, Communications Department
Puspa Amri - Chair of APARC, Economics Department
Laura Lupei - Associate Vice President for University Budget and Resource Planning
John Lynch - Staff Representative, Center for Teaching and Educ Technology
Clayton Trent - Vice President of Finance, Associated Students
Cassandra Garcia - President, Associated Students
Jerlena Griffin-Desta - Ex-officio, Chief of Staff and VP for Strategic Initiatives and Diversity
Mike Ogg - Ex-Officio, AVP for Academic Resources
STAFF PRESENT:
Hayley Avery - Budget Manager, Administration and Finance
GUESTS PRESENT:
Mike Lee - President, Sonoma State University
Anna Reynolds-Smith - Assistant Vice President for Admin and Financial Planning & Business Ops
Natalie Sanchez - Budget Director, Administration and Finance
Ian Hannah - Assistant Vice President for Advancement Operations
Jonathan Duran Del Villar - Incoming Vice President of Finance, Associated Students
Vanessa Sanchez - Incoming President, Associated Students
MEMBERS ABSENT:
Napoleon Reyes - CFA Representative, Criminology & Criminal Justice Studies
M. Monir Ahmed - CFO, Vice President of Administration and Finance; Vice-Chair
Ed Mills - Ex-officio, Vice President of Strategic Enrollment Management
AGENDA
- Call to Order and Welcome
- Approval of the Minutes: April 11th
- President’s Updates
- 2024-2025 Budget Update
- May Revise
- Announcements for the Good of the Order
- Call to Order and Welcome
Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, Karen Moranski, welcomed the committee and began the meeting at 8:37 a.m.
- Approval of the Minutes: April 11th, 2024
Moranski introduced the agenda and asked if there were any additions. Hearing none, Moranski requested a motion to approve the minutes of the April 11th meeting. The minutes were approved unanimously.
- President’s Updates
President Lee attended the meeting to share updates on university-wide matters. Expressing gratitude, President Lee thanked the student representatives for their dedicated service on the committee and extended congratulations to them on their upcoming commencement. The President highlighted positive trends in enrollment figures and noted that the Admissions department is actively engaging with prospective students to facilitate their registration and enrollment for the next academic year. Additionally, the Enrollment Management team is focusing on efforts to enhance the international student population. As this was the final meeting of the 2023-2024 academic year, President Lee took the opportunity to commend the committee for their hard work and contributions throughout the year.
- 2024-2025 Budget Update
Laura Lupei provided an update on the 2024-2025 budget, incorporating details from the Chancellor’s Office preliminary Budget Memo released in April. The 2023-2024 campus operating budget stands at $137.7M, which serves as the baseline for 2024-2025. The campus is expecting an increase of approximately $4.7M in the allocation for the next fiscal year. This increase includes $23K for students with disabilities funding, $2.6M for compensation pool funding, $1.6M for health premium increase funding, and $523K for liability and property insurance premium increase funding. However, there are also anticipated decreases: $2.2M due to enrollment reallocation from 2023-2024, and $1.9M as an offset to the state allocation based on projected new tuition revenue from a 6% tuition increase. Combining the projected increases and decreases, the University is expected to receive an additional $641K in general fund support, bringing the total to $138.3M for 2024-2025. The Governor’s May Budget Revision is expected within the next week, with the final state budget approval anticipated in June and final campus allocations to be received in July.
The committee then reviewed the projected campus deficit for 2024-2025. Since the previous update in February, the projected subtotal deficit has risen from $6.3M to $6.5M. This figure includes a $9.3M unresolved budget deficit from the prior year, partially offset by increases in tuition revenue ($1.9M), cost allocation revenue ($1.4M), and other campus revenue adjustments ($40K). Additionally, there are unfunded mandatory costs and new positions in the Title IX and SEM departments amounting to $632K. This brings the total projected deficit to $6.5M, which the President is tasked with addressing for the 2024-2025 fiscal year. However, this figure does not cover the entire deficit. Additional factors such as unfunded compensation, enrollment reallocation, and increased tuition revenue will contribute to an estimated total deficit of $13M for the year. This includes $38K from the 6% tuition increase, $4.4M in unfunded compensation, and a $2.2M reduction due to enrollment reallocation.
To address the initial $6.5M deficit, several base reduction strategies have been proposed. These include reducing division operating expenses by $225K, realigning the instructional budget by $5M, cutting the university contingency by $250K, and implementing reductions from the Academic Affairs reorganization amounting to $1M. The committee discussed the $5M reduction in the instructional budget, seeking clarification on its composition and the impact on other divisions. Karen Moranski and Mike Ogg explained that the reduction aims to align the instructional budget with current enrollment, adjusting for previous excess funding due to declining enrollment. Troi Carleton, Dean of the School of Social Sciences, emphasized that this reduction reflects a decrease in class offerings and lecturer hires based on current student numbers.
The base reduction strategies total $6.5M, leaving an additional $6.5M that needs to be addressed with one-time funding. Lupei outlined the one-time funding strategies identified so far, which include $950K from prior year deficit strategies, $2M from campus reserves (both operating and capital), $600K from 24/25 salary savings, and $400K from unallocated central funds. Despite these measures, a remaining deficit of $2.6M is anticipated for 2024-2025. Additionally, there are expected costs related to base reductions that will further impact the deficit. Ongoing discussions will focus on identifying additional one-time strategies to close this remaining gap.
- May Revise
The University is currently awaiting the announcement of the Governor’s May Revision to the budget. Laura Lupei indicated that both the Chancellor’s Office and the campuses do not expect any significant new developments beyond what was outlined in the Governor’s January budget proposal.
- Announcements for the Good of the Order
Moranski thanked Clayton Trent and Cassandra Garcia for their participation and congratulated the students on their upcoming graduation.
Moranski adjourned the meeting at 9:41 a.m.
Minutes prepared by Hayley Avery.