[Vision2020] Say Whut?

[Saundra Lund]

Hi Tom and Other Curious Visionaries:

Here's the quote *and* the context:
"University Budget and Finance Committee member Jim Murphy said the
hypothetical $20 million figure is the university's way of preparing for the
worst-case scenario.

"It's like Thanksgiving. It doesn't mean that what you're planning to eat is
what you really will eat," Murphy said.

He said he doesn't think Daley-Laursen was intentionally trying to scare the
faculty, though fear was the consequence.

"We need to be a little bit cautious about that conversation," Murphy said.
"Unfortunately some people don't hear all those ifs. They just go to the
bottom line and say, 'Oh, that's $20 million,' " He said. "And that's what
scares people."

_____

And, here's the complete article from today's Daily News:

Concerns stem from Daley-Laursen's announcement at a Monday faculty meeting

By Halley Griffin, Daily News staff writer
November 22, 2008

It began with a hypothetical dollar figure at a University of Idaho faculty
meeting Monday afternoon.

By the end of the week it had grown to a $20 million anxiety attack, with
President Steven Daley-Laursen planning an explanatory letter to faculty and
staff for next week.

Daley-Laursen told university faculty at their Monday meeting that state
holdbacks and internal reallocations could total $20 million over the next
two years.

Faculty members left the meeting with no idea where the number had come
from, or where the cuts will be made. 

Provost Doug Baker tried to explain the president's comments to the faculty
council Tuesday, but the campus was still buzzing about the mysterious $20
million announcement three days later.

"Yeah, I don't think we completely explained that well," said Baker, who
outlined several budget scenarios that could amount to a $20 million
reduction.

Department of electrical and computer engineering faculty member Richard
Wells said the figure took the faculty completely by surprise.

"The problem is that nobody knows what that means yet," Wells said. "It has
the kind of effect on people that's probably not all that dissimilar to
hearing your lieutenant stand up and scream, 'Victory or death.' " 

Fellow electrical and computer engineering faculty member David Egolf
commends UI administrators for trying to "right the ship," but said they
need to communicate more clearly.

"I think there's been a lot of communication about the fact that there are
going to be budget cuts, but the methods that are going to be followed,
we're not clear on that," Egolf said. "What we need is transparency, because
we have a lot of worried people."

He said the past two university meetings he's attended left him feeling less
informed than when he went in - and he claims he's not the only one.

Baker said Daley-Laursen is sensitive to faculty confusion and plans to
issue a letter breaking down the $20 million and explaining his statement. 

Baker said the $20 million figure is made up of four different budgetary
aspects:

-- Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter ordered state agencies to reduce
state-appropriated spending by 1 percent in September, and hold an
additional 1.5 percent in reserves. University officials believe Otter will
require the full 2.5 percent reduction, which would shrink the UI's budget
for this year by about $2.4 million.

-- The governor is expected to ask for an even larger holdback. Otter has a
news conference planned for Tuesday, and UI officials are preparing for a
potential holdback of up to 5 percent, which would amount to a little less
than $5 million.

Nobody expects the economy to right itself between this year and next, so
UI's number-crunchers are running figures for the next two years. The
theoretical two-year 5 percent holdback would cost the university about $10
million.

--  The university reallocated $6.2 billion at the beginning of this fiscal
year (July 2008-June 2009) to boost new student recruitment, research, and
fundraising. The reallocation is seen as an investment, as all three areas
are expected to increase revenues. The $6.2 million is still in the
university's budget, just in different places.

--  The UI experiences inflationary costs every year that aren't factored
into state allocations. Baker said the university is expecting to need about
$4 million for increases in university liability insurance, utility costs
and the enrollment workload adjustment.

Enrollment figures for the UI are averaged on a three-year basis. The
university receives money when the three-year average is up, and owes money
when it's down. 

A $10 million biennial holdback, plus the $6.2 reallocation and the $4
million in anticipated inflationary costs add up to about $20 million over
two years.

University Budget and Finance Committee member Jim Murphy said the
hypothetical $20 million figure is the university's way of preparing for the
worst-case scenario.

"It's like Thanksgiving. It doesn't mean that what you're planning to eat is
what you really will eat," Murphy said.

He said he doesn't think Daley-Laursen was intentionally trying to scare the
faculty, though fear was the consequence.

"We need to be a little bit cautious about that conversation," Murphy said.
"Unfortunately some people don't hear all those ifs. They just go to the
bottom line and say, 'Oh, that's $20 million,' " He said. "And that's what
scares people."

Halley Griffin can be reached at (239) 885-5561, ext. 239, or by e-mail at
hgriffin at dnews.com.


-----Original Message-----
From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]
On Behalf Of Tom Hansen
Sent: Saturday, November 22, 2008 11:15 AM
To: vpschwaller at gmail.com; vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Say Whut?

And your source for this quote is . . . ?

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho


> "The $20 million budget reduction . . . It's like Thanksgiving" he said.
> 
> UI Budget and Finance Committee Member Jim Murphy
> 
> I can hardly wait for the UI Christmas event . . .
> 
> GS
> 
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