October 29, 2020 Minutes

PRESIDENT'S BUDGET ADVISORY COMMITTEE

October 29^th, 2020

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Karen Moranski Interim Provost, Vice President of Academic Affairs; Chair Joyce Lopes Vice President of Administration and Finance; Vice-Chair Jerlena Griffin-Desta Chief of Staff and AVP for Strategic Initiatives and Diversity Troi Carleton Dean, School of Social Sciences

Jeffrey Reeder Chair of the Faculty; Modern Languages & Literature

Laura Krier Vice-Chair of the Faculty; University Library

Elita Virmani Chair of APARC; Early Childhood Studies

Erma Jean Sims CFA Representative; Literacy Studies & Elementary Ed. Laura Lupei Senior Director for University Budget and Planning, A&F

Audra Verrier Staff Representative, Career Services

Melissa Kadar President, Associated Students

Jonathan Dominguez Vice President of Finance, Associated Students

STAFF PRESENT:

Elias Lopez AVP for Academic Resources, Academic Affairs

Hayley Avery Budget Manager, Administration and Finance

GUESTS PRESENT:

Gregory Sawyer Vice President of Student Affairs

Heather Brown Associate Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness

Ian Hannah Assistant Vice President for Advancement Operations

Natalie Sanchez Budget Director, Administration and Finance

MEMBERS ABSENT:

None.

AGENDA

CALL TO ORDER AND WELCOME
APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA AND MINUTES: October 1^st, 2020
ANNOUNCEMENT'S FOR THE GOOD OF THE ORDER
REVISED OPERATING RESERVE POLICY
DRAFT CONTINGENCY FRAMEWORK
SEM PLAN

CALL TO ORDER AND WELCOME
Interim Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, Karen Moranski, welcomed the committee and began the meeting at 8:30 am.
APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA AND MINUTES
Moranski introduced the agenda and asked if there were any additions. Hearing none, Moranski requested a motion to approve the minutes of the October 1^st meeting. Minutes were approved unanimously.
ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR THE GOOD OF THE ORDER
Moranski updated the committee on the progress the Academic Continuity group has made for planning for the Spring semester. The group has sent forth for approval the same number of in-person classes as the Fall semester.
REVISED OPERATING RESERVE POLICY
(Please see the October 29^th agenda packet for related documents)

The committee reviewed the revised Operating Fund Reserve Policy. This was the second reading for the committee and the changes included additional terminology updates for the University's designated balances and reserve categories to match the Chancellor's Office policy. Jerlena Griffin-Desta made a motion to accept the changes and forward on to the President. Elita Virmani provided a second for the motion and the revisions to the policy were approved by the committee unanimously.
DRAFT CONTINGENCY FRAMEWORK
(Please see the October 29^th agenda packet for related documents)

Laura Lupei presented the first draft of the University Contingency Framework to the committee. The presentation outlined that the first step in reserve and contingency planning was the Operating Fund Designated Balances and Reserve policy. Since the contingency is not covered in the Designated Balances and Reserve policy this framework is to provide guidelines on spending practices for contingency funds in conjunction with and in support of the Designated Balances and Reserves Policy. Lupei discussed some key definitions, including the definition for contingency. The contingency is an ongoing, base budgeted source of funding that is set aside annually, yet is not committed for a specific purpose. The contingency may be used on an exception basis, as approved by the president, to cover unexpected costs or revenue decreases within a given year. Unspent contingency at year-end will be allocated to reserves. The Contingency differs from Designated Balances and Reserves because the contingency is on-going base budgeted and the designated balances and reserves are a one-time source of funding.

The objective is to have a framework that can be endorsed by the President's Budget Advisory Committee and implemented by Cabinet. The current contingency is $625K, which is just under .5% of the 20/21

$130.7M budget. The framework outlines a goal of increasing the contingency to 2%-3% of the base operating budget. Guidelines to utilize contingency funds include; expenses that affect the entire University or are essential to a Division but the Division has limited funding; expenses that are on-going but difficult to predict for annual budgeting purposes; any annual costs funded by contingency funds should have a plan to identify alternate funding; and contingency funds should be utilized before Designated Reserves. The process for requesting contingency funds is as follows; discuss the need for funds with University Budget Office and CFO; fill out Request for University Designated Balances/Reserves/Contingency Funding Form and send to the University Budget Office for processing; University Budget Office reviews the form and submits to the President's Office; requesting Division VP reviews the request with the President; the request is brought to Cabinet for discussion and final Presidential approval; after final Presidential review, the University Budget Office will be notified and the funds will be allocated if approved.

The committee was concerned about the increase in the budget goal and the timeline to increase the goal. Joyce Lopes responded that the goal would be incrementally achieved as the budget is rebuilt over many years. The increase in the base budgeted contingency would not be achieved in the short-term but is a long-term goal to work towards. Increasing the goal is also a positive step in strategic budgeting as these funds can help delay the need to spend into reserves. Any unspent contingency funds are then distributed to the University Reserve so increasing the contingency budget overtime would also help build University reserves. The committee also had feedback on one of the guidelines for utilizing the contingency funds.

The guideline which outlines that expenses are on-going but difficult to predict, such as employee settlements, should not be funded from contingency because they are on-going and that does not meet the purpose of the contingency. With that feedback, the contingency framework will be revised and brought back to the committee for a second review during the December meeting.
SEM PLAN
(Please see the October 29^th agenda packet for related documents)

Heather Brown, the Associate Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness joined the meeting to present the Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) Plan. Brown noted the SEM plan is a current work in progress but is the start in setting enrollment goals for the University. The University has been in an enrollment decline for the previous four years. In the past year, the yield rates, the rate that applications convert to enrolled students, has seen a significant decline. The key indicators for the SEM plan include increasing the yield rates for the First Time First Year (FTFY) student category as well as the transfer student category. The SEM plan focuses on a three-year timeframe to increase enrollment with a goal of a 9700 headcount for Fall 2024. With recent events, creating a short-term plan was thought to be more essential to fix the enrollment decline. The SEM unit will still be focusing on long-term planning in the future.

This SEM plan was created in conjunction with the strategic plan for the University as well as the vision, mission, and values of the campus. The SEM plan outlines nine preliminary goals that include; establish and promote a clear institutional identity that positions SSU as the first choice within our six-county region; enhance outreach and enrollment strategies that will result in the highest yield and enrollment from across the state; further develop dashboards and metrics to measure progress on enrollment and retention; review and revise processes to increase enrollment of new admits; develop a communication plan and student support network from inquiry to first-semester attendance; reduce administrative barriers for student success and graduation; strengthen student financial literacy and security; strengthen and expand programs and resources that support student retention and persistence; increase success and retention of underserved and underrepresented students by expanding programs and services that support academic achievement and a sense of belonging.

Elias Lopez shared that there is currently a special consultant helping the SEM unit as they are focusing on increasing the yield rates for all categories of students. The SEM team is also focusing on outreach and marketing to current and future students. The committee thought the plan was reasonable and agreed that a short-term plan is more crucial at this time. The committee had one piece of feedback to include strengthening career preparedness for students as part of a goal in the plan.

Moranski adjourned the meeting at 10:00 am. Minutes prepared by Hayley Avery.