President Martin told the Eastern Michigan University Board of Regents at its meeting Tuesday enrollment continues to increase, but the University’s budget will be challenging to deal with for the 2011-2012 academic year.
Martin noted enrollment increased for the 2010 fall semester and the 2011 winter semester, but they didn’t reach their goal set last year of 3.4 percent to handle the cost of freezing tuition, room and board in the 0-0-0 campaign.
“We are addressing budget challenges for the current fiscal year resulting from lower tuition revenue and higher expenditures than initially projected,” Martin said in her report to the Regents. “We have taken action to address some of the shortfall and are hoping to find the rest.”
Another budget problem Martin expects the University to face is the prospect of less state funding.
“The 2011-2012 budget promises to be one of the most challenging we have faced,” she said. “Governor Rick Snyder, while supportive of higher education in general, has made it clear that there will be shared sacrifice as he erases a $1.8 billion state budget deficit.”
Snyder will announce his budget plan Thursday.
Martin said the University is going to hold open and transparent meetings and discussions about the budget in the next few months. She, along with Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer to the Board of Regents John Lumm, will host a forum on the budget Monday.
In the Finance and Audit Committee meeting, John Donegan, associate vice president of facilities, updated the regents on the Mark Jefferson and Pray-Harrold construction projects.
Donegan said both projects are on schedule and within the budget they had approved.
“So far, the work has gone very well,” Donegan said about the Mark Jefferson Science Complex. “The architecture reflects what is going to happen in this building. We are creating the flagship building of our campus.”
Donegan said they added about 80,000 square feet to the building, but the cost of energy is about the same as before the addition because of environmentally friendly upgrades to the complex.
Some of the problems Donegan saw in the project involved the heating and cooling in the building, uneven floors and an asbestos problem.
“We have to spend a bit of time babysitting the heating and cooling systems,” Donegan said.
Donegan also said asbestos is a problem with the Pray-Harrold project, noting it, as well as Mark Jefferson, were more than 40 years old. Also, the EMU data center is located in the basement of the building, and they have had to constantly keep it running throughout the renovations.
Donegan showed pictures of what the inside of the building should look like upon completion. The plan shows a more central location on the main floor from which people will be able to see to the other side of the building.
“It’s a much more traditional look,” Donegan said. “We’re not going to have the high-tech look of Mark Jefferson.”
Donegan said cost savings in the project will allow them to get new furniture, repair the whole roof and relocate the Eagle Cafe.
Also in the finance meeting, Regent Thomas Sidlik was concerned with the amount of funding the University gives to the radio station WEMU when it is operating at a loss year-to-year.
“I think it’s unconscionable that we are continually subsidizing WEMU when it can’t break even on its own,” Sidlik said.
According to a recent audit of WEMU, the radio station had an operating loss of $1.81 million last year. In 2009, it had a loss of $1.871 million, and in 2010, $1.935 million.
Overall, the audit said the station was in good financial standing. The audit also said, EMU funds 60 percent of WEMU, and the other 40 percent comes from “rental income and grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.”
Three new regents, all of whom were appointed by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, began their terms today.
Beth Fitzsimmons, the most recent appointee to the board, replaced former regent Mohamed Okdie, who resigned earlier this month after not being present at board meetings for nearly two years.
Fitzsimmons’ term as an EMU regent expires Dec. 31, 2016.
Michael Hawks, son of former regent Gary Hawks, will serve his term as a regent until it ends in December 2018.
Mike Morris also was appointed this month and will serve until Dec. 2018. Morris was not at the meeting Tuesday.
Gary Hawks and Philip Incarnati both received Emeritus Regent status at the meeting.
Hawks was appointed as a regent in January 2007 by then-Governor Jennifer Granholm, and his term expired in December. Before that, he worked at EMU from 1964 to 1981 in roles including vice president of university relations and director of personnel, according to his biography on the Board of Regents website.
At the meeting Hawks said his relationship with EMU went further back than that. He went to school at Ypsilanti High School and went to EMU’s campus for certain events. He also received a master’s degree in higher education from EMU.
Incarnati was first appointed as a regent in February 1992 by then-Governor John Engler. He was reappointed in 1994 and 2002.
According to his biography on the Board of Regents website Incarnati is the president and CEO of McLaren Health Care Corporation in Flint.
Incarnati, who resides in Clarkston, Mich., receieved a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 1976 and a Master of Business Administration in 1982.
The next meeting will take place April 14.
