Meeting Notes - June 9, 2009

1) Approval of Notes from May 26, 2009
The notes were approved.
2) Budget Update
Jeanpierre passed out the Executive Order from the Office of the Governor dated June 9, 2009 which had just been posted. It basically stated that the State should cease all unnecessary spending.
Jeanpierre then shared a handout from Andy Dunn and Bernata Slater that was presented to the Board on June 1, 2009. The document showed the changes to 2009-10 projections and the projected fund balances (est. as of 3rd quarter end)

FHDA has a total projected ending fund balance of $18M. De Anza College has a projected ending fund balance of $5.2M. Fund 61 has a fund balance from savings in medical benefits from vacant positions. Therefore, at the present time the District has a projected $18M problem and a projected $18M fund balance.The District and Colleges are trying to stretch the funds as far as possible.

The situation with the categorical funding keeps changing. The latest information available from Bret Watson is reflected in the document Categorical Funding Update.

There is a list available from Chancellor's office of which funds are considered categorical. More information is also available from notes of the last CBT meeting which are posted at: http://www.deanza.edu/gov/campus_budget/notes/CBTNotes05_26_09.html


The District has requested the categorical program managers prepare two scenarios:1) a 50% reduction and 2) a 15% reduction.

Sellitti said that if Special Education Fund 22 was cut as much as 50%, it would equate to approx. $715K. Categoricals account for approx. $8M in staffing costs at De Anza College.There was protective language written in to Title V for DSS to try and protect funds.Child Development could be deeply impacted and are looking at other partnerships e.g. Head Start. OTI's funding has been in flux over the last weeks but there is a chance they may receive Fed Stimulus funds.
Part-time faculty compensation for office hours and medical benefits were originally State funded but now the State is withdrawing funding. $1M in part-time benefits will now have to be funded by the district.
Impacts to scheduled maintenance funding matching dollars could be further problem.
Other districts are not in such a (relatively) good position as FHDA. Some are struggling to make the 5% reserves. FHDA in a unique position in having fund balance to assist in budget planning. There is a possibility that some community colleges might go bankrupt over the next years.
There was a question on how many temporary employees (TEA) are on campus. Some TEAs are for DSS and are for State mandated services such as captioners. It is often the case that mandated laws are not funded.

The District is looking for a two-year plan. The deans are reviewing low productivity and low enrolled courses; trends; shifting FTEF to areas of greatest need; enrollment figures before the quarter commences; etc. FHDA is currently looking at cutting 500 sections next year; 300 at De Anza College and 200 at Foothill College. This is approx 5% and would equal approx. $1-2M dollars in savings.
Originally the plan was to trim categoricals e.g, freeze unfilled positions, hiring, etc, but due to the severity of the newly proposed cuts, the College will need to cut much more deeply.
FTFO has not been waived yet, which is why FHDA are still looking at hiring faculty at this time.

During the discussion the following was noted:
  • Many different scenarios to use resources as smartly as possible.
  • Go back to mission to look at what we want the college to look like after the cuts. Looking at $9-12M.
  • Make deliberate decisions on what is the core mission of the college.
  • Need to work together.
  • Hoping to get firm figures in July and August on the State budget.
  • Many of the categoricals have fund balances to use this year but next year could be very different.
  • Mid-year cuts come on June 30th (this is the end of the FY year)
  • Board can release Board stability funding ($600k)
  • No talk of sweeping the EIS backfill at this stage ($1.3M)
  • $200k in materials fees. Put a hold on them until we can use some of it. Talk to Deans first and come up with a plan. The funds are supposed to spent down each quarter, and if not it is a red flag for audit. Proposal to not collect materials fees in the next couple of quarters. Materials fees uses are very restrictive. Changing trends have made a difference in spending e.g. posting handouts online instead of printing.

President Murphy asked each VP area what B budget augmentations might be needed for next year for emergency spending.

President Murphy sent the following information to the College via an email on 6/10/09. "In anticipation of the budget we are likely to get, we have made the following preliminary moves:
1) Course Sections: We are planning to reduce course sections by 5% this fall, as the state debates whether or not to reduce our enrollment "base." Facing a cut of nearly 10% in our funding, we anticipate that the state will indeed do so. It will be a central element of our enrollment planning to ensure the maintenance of our core educational program, especially for those students most in need.
2) Cell Phones: College senior staff have jointly agreed to drop their district-paid cell phones and purchase individual phone service, with the retention of only those phones needed for emergency response. Further, I have asked all administrators to review and reduce the number of district cell phones assigned throughout the college.
3) ProCards: I have directed that all general fund and categorical administrators review ProCard distribution in their departments, and, other than in exceptional circumstances, pull all ProCard purchases back to the managerial level: deans, directors and vice presidents. All other cards will be cancelled.
4) Travel: I have asked administrators to review all travel, and with the exception of trips paid through negotiated staff development funds and trips associated with college priorities, all non-essential travel will be dropped.
5) Social Functions: No college social functions will be paid for or reimbursed out of college funds. I will use Foundation funds when appropriate, and we will continue the tradition of celebrating the graduation achievements of our students -- just not with state funds."


3) Burning Issues

None were presented.

Present: Argyriou, Bloom, Gerard, Jeanpierre, Lee-Klawender, Hearn, Milones, Patlan, Sellitti. Notes: Gibson

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