State funding creates budget problems
Board to consider village design concept
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AU REPORT |
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| Headlines State funding creates budget problems Board to consider village design concept |
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State funding, bond issue become AU budget factors
State funding for next year is clearer but some of the financial uncertainties that affected Auburn University this year will continue into next year under the education budget passed by the Alabama Legislature on May 17 and signed by the governor on May 21, says Buddy Mitchell, AU's executive director for governmental affairs.
The shaky condition of state appropriations will trickle down to the department and individual levels at Auburn as most units prepare for maintenance rather than growth of operations. Most faculty and staff, meanwhile, are preparing for a year in which the limited growth in funding from all sources is expected to go to improving benefits rather than salaries.
The administration is preparing a budget for consideration by the Board of Trustees at a future meeting. The budget year starts Oct. 1.
In normal economic times, the university knows precisely how much is allocated by the Legislature as the administration develops a budget for board review. State appropriations account for about 40 percent of the university's budget, with tuition, auxiliary enterprises, federal funds and private gifts accounting for most of the remainder.
"What makes this session of the Legislature different from those of past years is that with the session now over and the budgets passed, we still don't know exactly what to expect next fall or even this summer,' said Mitchell, AU's chief lobbyist since 1993.
"We know more now about what to expect than we did a few weeks ago, but there is still a lot of uncertainty out there,' he added. "That applies for the remainder of this year as well as the allocation for the coming year.'
The Legislature's $201.3 million appropriation to the AU System for operations and maintenance is less than the $207 million appropriated in the spring of 2000 for the 2000-01 fiscal year. With four months remaining in the current fiscal year, AU faces either a 6.2 percent or 11.17 percent cut in the original appropriation, depending on a ruling of the Alabama Supreme Court in a pending case.
Of the AU System appropriation, the main campus is slated to receive $131.3 million, about $4 million below the unit's original appropriation for this year.
"We are talking in millions of dollars but what it boils down to is the university has less money to work with than we had at this time last year,' Mitchell said. "Those numbers may not mean much to individuals, but everyone feels the impact when the funds aren't available to fill positions, support programs or make salaries more competitive.'
Even the 2001-02 appropriation, which will be issued in monthly installments beginning in October, could be reduced by 1 percent by a special committee created by the Legislature to monitor state income during the summer. If sales taxes are below projections by the end of August, the committee can order budgets reduced 1 percent at the start of the budget year.
Mitchell noted that Auburn is in better shape to handle the state's current economic downturn than it would have been a few years ago. Auburn has been tightening its financial operations for several years and putting savings into a proration fund in anticipation of such a downturn.
"We've already made some of the cuts that others are having to deal with this year, but it still hurts when state funding is cut through proration and essentially carried over at that level into the next year.'
A special bond issue passed in a last-ditch effort by the Legislature to reduce the impact of proration may create as many problems as it solves, Mitchell said.
The $110 million bond issue is ostensibly for capital improvements, but institutions and school systems receiving proceeds from it will be expected to divert money from those purposes to operating costs during the remaining four months of this fiscal year.
Higher education is seeking a ruling from the Alabama Supreme Court to require Gov. Don Siegelman to treat higher education and kindergarten-grade 12 public schools equally in the impact of proration. Siegelman had sought to reduce the impact to K-12 by increasing the size of the cuts in higher education funding.
If the court's ruling favors higher education, the governor will have to apply the 6.2 percent proration equally. Under that circumstance, the bond issue would also be applied across the board. Auburn would receive about $5 million from that arrangement.
If the court decides in favor of the governor, higher education would see its state appropriation for the year reduced by 11.17 percent, with the impact compounded into the remaining three or four months of the budget year. In that case, the entire bond issue would go to higher education, with Auburn receiving about $15 million for capital construction. The university would then have to find a way to address the operating budget shortfall.
Interim AU President William Walker had opposed the bond issue on grounds that it was equivalent to a family obtaining a 20-year mortgage to pay for groceries. Annual payments in the range of $9 million to $10 million will come off the top of education budgets for the next 20 years.
With increased taxes ruled out as an option, Siegelman and legislative supporters of the bond issue argued that it was the only way they could provide relief to institutions and school systems facing layoffs of employees due to proration.
Board asked to consider 'village' concept for AU
A recommendation and guidelines to create a "village' atmosphere at AU through future campus construction have been forwarded to the Board of Trustees by the board's property and facilities committee.
The guidelines, which were drafted by Orlando-based International Design and Entertainment Associates, could come up for consideration at the board's next meeting, which is 9 a.m. on Monday, June 4, in the Dixon Conference Center. If approved, the guidelines will be used by the Boston-based Sasaki Associates planning firm in development of a master plan for future construction.
The village concept was recommended by IDEA President Hugh Darley as a way to revive a community atmosphere, which for decades was a defining part of the Auburn experience. Darley's report notes the erosion of that campus atmosphere through the addition of large, impersonal buildings and an abundance of automobile traffic.
The Darley report advocates a shift in future construction to smaller buildings that are linked to create an atmosphere reminiscent of Toomer's Corner in downtown Auburn. If the plan is adopted, it could see its first application in the new student union complex, which was placed on hold last year after student leaders objected to the site chosen by the Board of Trustees. The original site plan called for a single massive building; the westside parking area next to the transportation hangar was the only one meeting the board's criteria at the time.
The board agreed to consider alternative sites during a reassessment of the design concepts. The Darley plan offers options involving smaller, linked buildings at several sites along Thach Avenue between the western parking area and Cater Hall. Parking is also addressed in some plans, including an option to build a parking deck with a student-oriented building on top of it in the sunken area behind Petrie Hall.
Recommending conversion of AU's core areas into a pedestrian campus, the study includes numerous other recommendations to restrict traffic and implement transportation changes, such as implementing a San Francisco style trolley system. More people would be brought into the core of campus in the evenings to revive evening activities by the development of multipurpose buildings with student housing on upper levels.
Other parts of the IDEA-group recommendations include proposed architectural guidelines to control the scale, architectural style, mass, proportion, materials and landscaping of new buildings. The guidelines would require new buildings to be similar in those aspects to buildings which were dominant on campus until the construction boom of the 1960s.
Staff Council chair seeks insurance break, more visibility for workers
Harold Cummings has some concrete goals as the new chair of the Staff Council, but the Facilities carpenter also describes a more ambitious undertaking that he says could have even more long-term benefit for staff workers and others.
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Along with seeking more-affordable insurance and child care for AU workers in the lowest pay grades,Cummings says he wants to make others on campus more aware of the staff workers in their midst. Staff workers have a role to play that goes beyond their jobs, but they need greater recognition by faculty and other groups if they are to succeed, he says.
"I think the staff can help the faculty and the Board of Trustees come together and heal some of the hurt that both sides feel,' said Cummings, who is a Baptist minister away from campus. While faculty and the Board of Trustees are in dispute over shared governance, many staff members have more basic concerns that need to be addressed, he said. "We can help pull people together as long as they are willing to recognize our concerns, as well.'
Cummings, who has been working for the university since retiring from Uniroyal in 1994, said, "The Staff Council is trying to get better benefits for staff members because the need is so great, especially for the lowest paid workers.'
The Staff Council's chief goal is lower insurance premiums, as a percentage of the total cost, for employees in the lower pay grades. That goal is being considered by the administration for possible presentation to the Board of Trustees in the AU budget proposals for 2001-02. More affordable insurance and similar measures are needed if employees on the low end of the pay scale are to pay their bills, he said.
Staff members have also been hit hard by changes in the health plan that have driven up the employee costs for prescription drugs, he said. Among other concerns, Cummings cited the need for child care that would be more affordable and more flexible for employees in the lower pay grades.
"But we are not just trying to make things better for the staff,' Cummings added. "We've got to keep people working together to make sure that problems get solved and no one gets treated unfairly. The main thing most of us want is a level playing field.'
After serving as chair-elect for a year, Cummings said he has been encouraged by the treatment the Staff Council
officers have received from faculty leaders of the University Senate and senior university administrators this year.
He noted that the staff was able to get more attention devoted to a two- or three-tiered plan for insurance premiums
after the Staff Council gained another seat on the Insurance and Benefits Committee. Staff representation has been
expanded on other committees, and Staff Council officers are taking advantage of new opportunities to discuss
mutual concerns with faculty leaders and administrators.
Cummings noted that AU Board President Pro Tem Jimmy Samford has also met with the Staff Council to discuss issues of concern to the staff. Those issues differ markedly from issues raised by the faculty.
"These actions say to me that we are being heard; people want to listen to us,' he said. "This also makes me more aware of the things that need to be done at the university that are bigger than the things most of us deal with day to day. We can work our way through and find answers if we are willing to listen to one another.'
Cummings, who has been pastor of Rocky Creek Baptist Church on the north shore of Lake Martin for 14 years, has more than 25 years experience as a minister. Although he keeps the ministerial role separate from his job with the university, the influence of the church helps him to view conflict and issues in a broader perspective than he might view them otherwise, he says. "I don't try to force my beliefs on others, but I do hope that I can serve as an example,' he added.
"I used to think that the staff did not have the clout to speak up, but I don't see things that way now,' he said. "It is important to make sure that everyone is heard. And that is what I am trying to do.'
Trustees establish links with colleges, schools
AU Board of Trustees President Pro Tem Jimmy Samford has announced the appointment of trustees as liaisons with the colleges, schools, library and Office of Student Affairs at Auburn.
Interim AU President William Walker had recommended the appointments as a means of increasing communication between the board and the faculty, staff and students in those areas.
The appointments, effective this summer, are:
College of Agriculture: John Blackwell, Jack Venable. College of Architecture, Design & Construction: Lowell
Barron, Earlon McWhorter. College of Business: Jack Miller, Paul J. Spina. College of Education: Byron Franklin,
Golda McDaniel. College of Engineering: Robert Lowder, James W. Rane. School of Forestry & Wildlife Sciences:
Charles Glover, James W. Rane. College of Human Sciences: Robert Lowder, W. James Samford. College of
Liberal Arts: Golda McDaniel, Jack Miller. Library: Earlon McWhorter, Ed Richardson. School of Nursing: Byron
Franklin, Charles Glover. School of Pharmacy: John Blackwell, Ed Richardson. College of Sciences &
Mathematics: Paul Spina, Jack Venable. College of Veterinary Medicine: Lowell Barron, W. James Samford.
Student Affairs: Golda McDaniel, Earlon McWhorter
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Retirement-delay incentive bill dies loudly
A bill that would have provided extra incentives for public education and state employees in Alabama to remain on the job beyond 25 years died May 21 in a shouting match on the final night of the 2001 legislative session.
The bill would have boosted the percentage by which the retirement benefit is accumulated for each year of service after 25 years from 2 percent to 2.5 percent. Another provision would have imposed a minimum age of 55 to qualify.
According to the Office of Planning and Analysis, approximately 268 AU employees would qualify for the program
initially, with an average of 76 employees becoming eligible in each fiscal year through 2006.
The bill contained some provisions which were highly controversial, leading to extensive debate. Using a clock that
critics charged was deliberately set to give the wrong time, Lt. Gov. Steve Windom ended the Senate session at
midnight, before a vote could be taken.
Supporters said they expect the popular parts of the bill, including the 2.5 percent clause, to be reintroduced next year. The bill could reappear even earlier if it is included in a special session. Gov. Don Siegelman has expressed interest in calling a session this summer to seek passage of bills he supported that did not pass in the regular session.
Manager appointed at airport
William T. Hutto Jr., who manages three airports in Florida's Space Coast area, has been named director of the Auburn-Opelika Robert G. Pitts Airport, effective Aug. 1. Hutto will replace Todd Storey, who has been interim director of AU Aviation since the 1999 retirement of Jim Hendrick.
Hutto, who lives in Port St. John, Fla., has been the executive director of the Titusville-Cocoa Airport Authority for seven years. He manages three airports with more than 500 based aircraft, a $1.5 million annual budget and a payroll of more than $500,000. After earning his bachelor of science in aviation management from AU in 1990, Hutto earned his master of business administration in aviation from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla., in 1992.
AU offering surplus computers to schools
Auburn is implementing a new statewide program through which it will donate surplus computers, books and educational equipment to Alabama's public schools.
School systems will be able to choose from a variety of materials made available by the university twice a year. The program, which was approved by the AU Board of Trustees, is based on Auburn's successful experience with outreach programs that provided similar donations to Auburn area schools.
"Programs in Lee County and Loachapoka schools show that such property can be valuable to public schools,' said David Wilson, associate provost and vice president for University Outreach. "Numerous school systems in the state, particularly in the Alabama Black Belt, presently do not have computing equipment which enables Internet accessibility. While the equipment Auburn offers is not a panacea, this will go a long way to help expose Alabama students to modern technology.'
Starting June 4-8, the initial offering of surplus computers, desks, books, file cabinets and other equipment will be available for donation to K-12 school systems. School administrators will have an opportunity to inspect and select items from the available stock provided by the university. While priority will be given to schools that have some relationship with AU, all public schools in the state are eligible to participate in the program.
Equipment will be donated on a first-come, first-serve basis.
In the future, the program will be administered by the College of Education's Truman Pierce Institute along with the AU Libraries and campus Surplus Properties Office.
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The Facilities Division launched several projects involving construction, landscaping and maintenance around campus during the break between spring semester and the summer term. Those involve some relatively small but highly visible construction projects and landscaping of buildings and grounds in areas of normally high foot traffic.
The most visible short-term construction jobs involved the entrance to Funchess Hall and the side entrance to Langdon Hall. Cater Hall and Ross Square, meanwhile, received a heavy dose of landscape maintenance.
At the entry to Funchess Hall, columns weakened by decades of exposure to the elements are being replaced, says Robert Sharpe, manager of project construction. The work is scheduled to be completed, with the entry restored to its previous look, in July.
Work around the main entrance to Human Resources in Langdon Hall led to temporary closing of that entry during the break between terms. Visitors to those offices were routed through the rear door while steam pipes were replaced.
Landscaping work around Cater Hall during the break had both cosmetic and building maintenance benefits, said Charlie Crawford, manager of landscape services. "It had been 18 to 20 years since any new landscaping had been done at Cater Hall, and many of the existing plants were overgrown in their mature state,' said Crawford. The new landscaping plan, developed by a landscape architect, "will highlight the architecture of the structure and not hide it,' Crawford said.
The project will continue into midsummer, Crawford said. Landscape Services and Maintenance and Operations are tackling the Cater project together so that as overgrown plants are removed, the building can be made more accessible for repair and waterproofing, as well as for extensive drain and storm sewer work.
In a nearby project, Facilities workers are pruning hedges and replacing some plants at Ross Square. The pruning is done every five or six years, and certain plants inside the perimeter are replaced annually.
Other recent landscaping efforts include the planting of more than 100 new trees in the new parking areas and other parts of campus.
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Engineering gets $1 million BellSouth gift
BellSouth Corporation has committed $1.05 million to AU for the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering's minority engineering program. The college will receive $150,000 per year for seven years.
"This gift reflects a truly impressive commitment to the College of Engineering by BellSouth,' said Larry Benefield, dean of the Ginn College of Engineering. "It represents a milestone in the long and fruitful relationship we have had with BellSouth and its employees. In fact, BellSouth was one of our very first corporate donors for our minority engineering program.'
The programwas renamed the BellSouth Minority Engineering Program at Auburn University.
"Our relationship with Auburn has been extremely successful over the years, and many Auburn graduates are valued members of the BellSouth team,' said Ron Frieson, BellSouth's vice president and chief diversity officer. "This gift is an example of BellSouth's commitment to diversity and inclusion, as well as education. Our work force is made up of many cultures and ethnicities, and we celebrate and encourage those differences.'
Leading donor dies in Atlanta
W. Kelly Mosley, a retired telephone industry executive who was a prominent conservationist and leading benefactor
of Auburn University for a half century, died May 13 in Atlanta. He was 98.
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Although nationally prominent in the communications field during his 40-year career, Mosley became widely known outside the industry as a conservation leader and education benefactor following his retirement. During the 1960s, '70s and '80s, he was a leading benefactor of AU, where he established lectureships, professorships and conservation award programs.
AU's environmental awards in forestry and wildlife sciences are named for Mosley, and, as chairman of the Atlanta-based John and Mary Franklin Foundation, he was instrumental in establishing the Franklin Lectures in Science and Humanities.
Backscheider, Roland win research awards
Paula Backscheider, Eminent Scholar in the Department of English, and David Roland, Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Poultry Science, have won AU's 2001 Creative Research Awards.
Each award is presented by the AU Office of the Vice President for Research and the AU Research Advisory Council and carries a $5,000 cash prize.
Backscheider, a leading authority in 18th-century literature, won in the Fine Arts, Liberal Arts, Business, Social and Human Sciences category. Roland, whose research focuses on egg shell quality enhancement and poultry nutrition, won in the Sciences, Medical Sciences, Engineering and Agriculture category.
A widely published author in her field, Backscheider is best known for her biographical work on Daniel Defoe. Her latest book, Reflections on Biography, takes an in-depth look at why we are drawn to study and write about other people's lives. Backscheider has contributed to some 18 books and 38 journal articles.
Internationally known for his research in the field of poultry science, Roland spent 15 years researching and collecting data to provide the poultry industry with a computer program that seeks to increase profits for egg producers.
Roland, whose research has brought worldwide recognition to AU's poultry science program, has authored or co-authored more than 678 publications and has presented his research at more than 540 conferences worldwide.
Journalism students, faculty launch e-zine
A new magazine written and designed by Auburn journalism students and faculty has debuted online.
" Expressions: Accents of Alabama' will be an annual web magazine produced by AU journalism students in advanced publication design, says Nan Fairley, associate professor of journalism who taught the course. The web-based "e-zine' is available online at www.auburn.edu/expressions.
Fairley said the goal of the inaugural issue was to educate AU journalism students in this new media and to interest readers in stories that have a unique flair.
"The magazine aims to take readers off the beaten path to explore aspects of Alabama culture ranging from rural architecture to sweet tea,' she said. "This first issue has a wide range of stories focusing on Alabama's culture.'
The stories were written by students in Fairley's feature-writing class and by students taking an advanced reporting class taught by Judith Sheppard, an associate professor of journalism. Sheppard also wrote some material included in the online magazine.
As important as the stories is teaching future journalists the details of writing for a new type of media, Fairley said. "This is our first effort at bringing in new media education to our curriculum. Students had to learn the difference in writing for traditional media versus writing for the web.'
Josh Wyckoff of Fairhope, a senior journalism major who graduated on May 12, was the web designer in the class and worked primarily on getting the magazine on line.
Barth to speak at economic symposium in Hong Kong
James Barth, the Lowder Eminent Scholar in Finance in Auburn's College of Business, will speak in June at the 2001 APEC Economic Outlook Symposium in Hong Kong.
The symposium, which will be June 28-29, brings together experts from academia, governments and relevant
international organizations to discuss the relationship between financial development and economic growth. Barth
will present a paper on the linkage between the two factors and will discuss the current availability of knowledge.
On July 6, Barth will travel to Taipei, Taiwan, to participate in a seminar at National Chengchi University. The
seminar will focus on the future of financial regulation in Taiwan.
Barth, known for his expertise in the banking systems in other industrial nations and the impact of regulation on their economies, will present research focused on the comparison of Taiwan's current regulatory structure with that of other countries.
Barth, a senior fellow at the Milken Institute, was chief economist for the federal Office of Thrift Supervision and
the Federal Home Loan Bank Board before coming to Auburn in 1990.
Harrell receives Pepperdine award for Christian service
David Edwin Harrell Jr., AU's Breeden Eminent Scholar in the Humanities, has received a Distinguished Christian Service Award from Pepperdine University. Harrell, a noted religious historian, was an invited speaker to the 58th annual Pepperdine University Bible Lectures. He spoke at the Church of Christ-related institution on his most recent book, The Churches of Christ in the 20th Century.
Campus Views: Departures are normal, not sign of AU brain drain
By William F. Walker, Interim President, Auburn University
While Natasha Trethewey was a member of the AU Department of English faculty, she completed her second book
and was awarded a prestigious Bunting Fellowship for advanced study at Harvard University. Now Trethewey is
leaving Auburn to accept a faculty position at Emory University.
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While Richard Kunkel was dean of Auburn's College of Education, he helped develop the West Alabama Learning Coalition, improving education in Black Belt counties and promoting economic and community development. Now Kunkel is leaving Auburn to become dean of the Florida State University College of Education. Florida State is interested in developing partnerships similar to the West Alabama Learning Coalition.
Will Auburn University miss the contributions of these and other highly talented individuals leaving the university? Absolutely. Trethewey, Jones and Kunkel share the credit for Auburn's ranking by U.S. News and World Report as 42nd among the nation's top 50 public universities, the only higher education institution in the state on the list. They share credit for Auburn's distinction as one of the top eight academically competitive schools in the eight-state southern region, according to the Kaplan/Newsweek College Catalog. They share the credit for Auburn's recruitment of 43 National Merit finalists last year, the highest total of any freshman class in the university's history.
Are these departures unprecedented, unusual or harbingers of a "brain drain' from this university? A quick review of faculty turnover indicates the answer is no. Here are the numbers: Since the 1995-96 academic year, we have averaged 1,143 faculty members per year. During that same period, an average of 61 faculty members per year, or 5.3 percent, have left the university. A third of those departures were retirements or deaths. During the 1999-2000 academic year, the most recent complete year, Auburn lost 55 faculty members, including 21 to retirement or death. The faculty departure rate for 1999-2000 is the lowest since 1995-96.
Will Auburn be able to recruit faculty stars who will shine as brightly as Trethewey, Jones and Kunkel? It is happening now. Prime examples are Richard Cernosek, Valery Petrenko and Wes Williams.
Cernosek, a new professor of materials engineering, and Petrenko, recently appointed professor of pathobiology, are new team members within the Center for Detection and Food Safety, one of Auburn's Peaks of Excellence. Before arriving at Auburn, Cernosek spent 24 years at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M., where he focused on development and improvement of sensor platforms, a key area in the Auburn development of a hand-held detection system for harmful bacteria, such as Salmonella.
Petrenko, a native of Russia who spent seven years at the University of Missouri, also was recruited to help make bacteria-detecting sensors smaller and more efficient.
Williams, now five months into his appointment as vice president for student affairs, has 25 years experience in higher education administration in the areas of financial aid, admissions and student affairs at several nationally prominent institutions.
We welcome outstanding new faculty, who bring ideas, experience and expertise to advance our university's mission. We bid fond farewell to outstanding departing faculty who have made exceptional contributions at Auburn, have grown professionally and are moving on to other fine institutions. The greetings and the good-byes are part of life in the academy, not klaxons of catastrophe.
Unsung Hero: Yvonne Rowell-Pressley, Information Technology
This week's Unsung Hero is Yvonne I. Rowell-Pressley, manager of computer operations for Information
Technology. She has worked for Auburn 21 and a half years and has been in her current position for three years. She
was asked:
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What is the most rewarding part of your job? "To know that my job can never get too old or too familiar, to realize
that everyday can be a day of learning and that things can change at a
moment's notice and that our number one priority is customer service, which allows us to come in contact with the many interesting people on the AU
campus, and also to know that I work with some of the greatest people on campus within Information Technology.'
What is the most challenging part of your job? "Knowing that whatever task I may come upon, no matter the
difficulty, the finished product shows that I have given it my best.'
If you were not doing this job, what would you most like to do? "I can't imagine myself not doing this job, there is nowhere else that I would rather be. The people and the atmosphere here are great.'
What makes Auburn special? "Its people.'
What do you like to do when not at work? "I participate in many church-related activities and I spend as much time as possible with my daughter, Jasmine.'
What person or persons do you most admire and why? "The persons that I most admire are the operational staff of
Information Technology, because of their loyalty, support and cooperation with each other and myself.'
What is your favorite line from the Auburn Creed and why? "'I believe in honesty and truthfulness, without which I
cannot win the respect and confidence of my fellow men.' I believe this line speaks for itself.'
Hundreds of Auburn employees brought their families out for the university's fifth annual Family Fun Day on May
9. The celebration of spring included games, prizes and entertainment for children and their parents. Event coordinator
Albert Snipes said perfect weather and the activities of dozens of volunteers contributed to the most successful
Family Fun Day yet.
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AU Report
Editor: Roy Summerford. Contributing editors: Bob Lowry, Janet McCoy and David Granger. University Relations Executive Director: Pete Pepinsky. The AU Report is the faculty/staff newsletter of Auburn University and is published by the Office of University Relations at Auburn University. Direct correspondence to AU Report, 23 Samford Hall, Auburn University, Ala. 36849-5109. Telephone 334/844-9999. Electronic mail: summero@auburn.edu |