Editor’s note: The following comments were sent to budgetcomments@iastate.edu and will be reviewed by President Gregory Geoffroy, Provost Elizabeth Hoffman and the University Budget Advisory Committee, as they make “the difficult budget decisions that lie ahead,” according to an e-mail sent by the president to students Oct. 15.
The numbers correspond to the order in which the e-mails were received.
Contributors’ names and e-mail addresses have been withheld, as consent to publish could not reasonably be obtained.

61
Good afternoon:
I am sure you have thought of these, but here are a few things I thought about:

• Temporarily stop or limit travel. If giving a presentation, the organization hosting could possibly reimburse for faculty or staff members’ expenses.
• Stop reimbursement for meals. Since a person would be eating even if they were not traveling, let them pay for their own meals until budget improves. Or, change the limit amount being reimbursed.
• If an airplane ticket is purchased with ISU funds then frequent flyer points should be given to university to purchase additional tickets rather than kept for personal use.
• Can things be changed phone wise? (i.e., like graduate students not having a phone in every office)
• Temporarily stop on purchases of nonessential items not needed for everyday use. For instances, books, equipment, etc. that can be postponed until budget improves.

One of the things I have heard people outside of the university say many times to me is ‘if the university is hurting so bad why are the constructing new buildings or doing construction on buildings?’ People do not understand there are different budgets for different things. Is there a way these budgets could be merged together and used more effectively?

62
Budget concern ideas….
Faculty might be more willing to step up and teach more courses if Promotion and Tenure allowed a path for promotion (all the way to full prof.) with more emphasis on teaching and less on scholarship (not to say either should be totally eliminated….). Differing duties for each faculty member can be used to get the unit’s work done overall and maintain excellence….some doing more teaching and some more scholarship. Right now the perception at least is that you can not get promoted on teaching alone and people are not willing to step up to teach more courses.
Also, there is a large variation in salaries among faculty. Some staff and faculty that are making $40-75K or so struggle to make ends meet in Ames. A salary cutback for them could be very difficult to handle. There should be a baseline set (say, more than $100K or so) for salary reductions or at least a “progressive tax” to protect younger, lower paid faculty…if salary reductions are considered at all. This would seem to be a breach of contract, however.
Merge some units into administrative units with one chair, associate chair and staff. Some of the work is fairly routine (yes I have been in administration) and could be handled for multiple units at once (such as collecting data for annual reports, class scheduling, book orders, etc.) I think we really need to look at how many Deans/Associate Deans/Assistant Deans, etc. each college has. Administration appears to have grown over my 20 years here while teaching faculty numbers have dropped. Turn more decision making back to the departments so decisions don’t require a dean’s approval.
Finally, really take a look at reports and paperwork. Are the reports really necessary and do they get used or are they just paperwork? I serve on several diversity committees and the reports seem to be just that: reports with no real use or consequences. Ask the administrative assistants which ones could be cut..they will know!
Just some random thoughts from the front lines!

63
If we would have mandatory furloughs, could married employees (both working on campus) split it up so that it wouldn’t be such a hardship all at once?

64
In most cases, I would prefer to have the flexibility to make all of the decisions about budget reversions at the department level. However, the budget cut at the start of this year has left me with almost no flexibility. If you include state supported RA and TA lines as part of the salaries in NREM, our teaching budget is 98.2 percent salaries, our research budget is 99.3 percent salaries, and our extension budget is 98.7 percent salaries. Based on discussions I have had with other department chairs, I think many other departments are faced with similar extremely high percentages of their state budget committed to salaries.
It would be very helpful to have a portion of the reversion dealt with through mandates at the university level even though the actual reversion money still comes from the departments. Two of the Regents’ strategies have appeal because they can initially be temporary, but could become permanent if we are faced with a budget cut for next year. Salary reductions or a benefits revision, or both could be implemented for the remainder of the year for all university employees. I don’t advocate accomplishing the whole 10 percent reversion through these actions, but a portion of the reversion produced that way would be helpful. Reduction of employer contributions to retirement benefits should be adjusted based on the age of the employee with younger employees receiving a lower reduction than those of us who are older. Cuts in those benefits need to make some attempt to take into account the long-term earning power of investments made early in one’s career.
I also think a centrally mandated period of leave without pay would be useful. Delay the start of spring semester by one week. During that period, close the university with everyone except persons essential to safety taking leave without pay during that time. Not only would that help to meet the reversion, it would also send a clear message that Iowa State cannot continue to provide all of the services we have in the past in the face of continued budget cuts or reversions. If that action were taken without a tuition surcharge this year, it would lend credence to the need for a tuition increase for the 2010/2011 academic year. A coordinated effort on the part of all Regents institutions for that period would send an even stronger message.

65
Honor early retirement again currently and not wait until next year.
People who are drawing retirement from the university should not be allowed to continue to come back and draw more pay on top of their retirement.

66
As a grad student and as an employee of Iowa State, the budget can potentially impact me on multiple levels. As a student it is easy to see only the immediate impact of any budget issues and how it is going to impact me. While the Regents have suggested some options, a combination of several of them would combat the budget cuts while maintaining the current level of education. Permanent lay-offs affects me as an employee in that offices are short-staffed and the responsibilities fall to the other employees within the department. It can affect me as a student by possibly eliminating positions that affect my program of study.
One of the suggestions that makes sense would be a one-time tuition surcharge. As as a student I am lucky that there was only a small increase in my tuition last year. Other states have passed the majority of the budget shortfalls to the students through tuition increases. A $500, one-time tuition surcharge would off-set the current budget shortfall by approximately $12.5 million. The university has passed surcharges in the past to help with the increase in utility prices. The additional cuts could then be passed to colleges and the departments.
Thank you for allowing suggestions from faculty, staff and students.

67
To whom it may concern,
This e-mail is in response to a recent e-mail about budget cuts, including a request for input. I am a junior in English education and a member of the University Honors Program. I admit I know relatively little about budgeting and money in general. However, I appreciate that my opinion was asked and would simply like to — hopefully as many before me have — strongly encourage those in decision-making positions to keep in the front of their minds the word “non-essential,” which I saw appear many times in recommendations and considered actions in the e-mail I received. I frequently see items and projects around campus that I consider highly non-essential, for example large televisions in seldom-frequented hallways, renovations to all three of our already very functional athletic centers, and the new sign in front of the Memorial Union. I realize many of these are projects already approved by the Board of Regents, but I am sure there are many of these underway would save valuable amounts of money if discontinued or otherwise delayed or rethought. I also would encourage decision-makers to keep times like this in mind when approving projects in the future. No matter how many funds are already in a certain account, I am sure that if enough thought is given, other projects would be found to be much more “essential” uses of funding than some of the projects I see around campus.
Thank you for your time!

68
Greetings,
For the time being, stop making employer contributions to retirement plans, and at the same time take away the requirement that all employees contribute a certain percentage of their wages to these plans. This accomplishes two things: Iowa State University doesn’t spend those contribution dollars and the employee can use their own discretion as to where their money goes. If the individual chooses to stop the personal contributions, it is up to them.
Stop funding conference travel.
Thank you.

69
Dear President Geoffroy;
Furloughs seem to be a reasonable method of coming up with the needed funds. However, they may be difficult to apply to teaching faculty in a fashion that does not overly disrupt students. One possibility around that might be to start next semester one week later than planned or whatever number of days might be needed to raise the necessary funds. This would not only provide an across-the-board response but would send a message to the public that it is difficult to provide the services our young people deserve with the continued budget cuts.
Thanks

70
When on campus in the evenings, I see an awful lot of lights left on in classrooms or other rooms which are not being used. Perhaps there is a way to reduce this, which could save on the electricity bill. Also, computers and monitors in computer labs which I frequent are almost always left on all of the time. If there was a way to set these machines to go to sleep mode or otherwise use less electricity, that might also help the electricity budget line. I know these seem small, but several small things might add up to some real savings over time. These could also be doubly counted as green initiatives.
Thanks for taking these ideas into consideration. Good luck in this hard process!

71
Dear President Geoffrey,
I’m a professor on the library faculty. I’ve signed an agreement to retire at the end of June 2010. It’s confidential, but since you’re the president of the university, I think I can safely tell you that it provides for my health insurance for the five years following my retirement. My personal retirement budget will be really tight, and I knew that when I signed the agreement; a reduction in health insurance benefits (if in the form of increasing the cost for a single person–I’m a widower) would perhaps come close to breaking my budget. I’m sure I’m not alone in worrying about such a change.
I would recommend perhaps reducing the amounts that the health insurance pays for procedures rather than increasing the amount we pay. I would also recommend perhaps an elimination of the university’s contribution to TIAA-CREF benefits for employees — the matching of the employee’s contribution that it provides now. Other institutions, out of state, are not that generous. I would also recommend a severe reduction in the funding allocated for out-of-state travel by faculty, especially to meetings where they are not presenting papers.
In the library, I would recommend the elimination of faculty status for librarians. We spend an inordinate amount of time doing “faculty” things — writing articles, not because we necessarily have something we want to say, but to obtain promotion and tenure and retain our jobs; serving on promotion and tenure committees; serving on post-tenure committees; and producing vita, portfolios and the other materials required of us when it’s our time for promotion and tenure or post-tenure reviews. Besides that, a lot of us serve on national committees solely to further our tenure/post-tenure cases — and again, that requires considerable funding from the university or the library.
I used to be a librarian at the University of Iowa; there I wrote articles for publication on my own time rather than the library’s, and did so because I felt strongly about what I was writing. Librarians at the University of Iowa no longer have faculty status, but they did in the now-distant past. There might not be too many of us who remember it, but librarians were listed among the “Academic Personnel” in the university catalog through 1972/74 (I’m listed there), but dropped from the listing beginning with the 1974/76 catalog. It didn’t diminish our standing in the university community, and it didn’t lessen the importance of my contribution to the work of the library.
Thank you for giving these suggestions your consideration.

72
To whom it may concern:
The suggestion of a modest tuition surcharge is extremely unacceptable. It is very unprofessional to tell students less than three months that they will be paying extra on their tuition. I do not understand how legally this is acceptable as well. Did we not receive information with a cost of tuition. I have budgeted my financial aid according to that information. I did not allow for a surprise surcharge. I do have a suggestion, cut money from athletics. This a university not the ESPN network. I understand that programs help bring in money for the university but I feel that some athletes that are given scholarships should not be here. For example last year a football player at the university on scholarship could barely read. How is this academic failure considered acceptable? Why punish students when money is wasted everywhere on the Iowa State campus? For example why remodel the gyms and oak-elm cafeteria? Seasons is very nice and seems to be accommodating all students. Also did Jack Trice really did that so called upgrade? The stairs at the Memorial Union, may have been distorted but added character they were still sufficient. What is the Veishea budget for this year? Cut that! Most students at Iowa State go to a state school because it is affordable not because the football team is bad, or the stairs are straight, but because they want to get an education! I want to get an affordable education. Throwing extra fees at students is not beneficial to the general acceptance rate. We also pay a health fee. Why pay a health fee when the Thielen Student Center is also very inefficient and I would never go there? Last year they told my friend he was fine, but when taken to the ER, doctors discovered that he had pneumonia. Money is thrown around at this campus and nobody cares because they can always cut teachers and raise tuition. Well this time a “modest” tuition surcharge is too much. Some people have to pay for housing and don’t live in a huge house on campus, some people pay more than $1,000 on books, and now we are supposed to accept a fee on top of a fee?

73
To Whom it May Concern:
In general, I have been satisfied with Iowa State University’s plan to cope with budget cuts this semester, but I would like to voice a few opinions for consideration of this next round of cuts.
Don’t get me wrong, I understand that students, professors and employees alike, are all in the same boat right now, but there are several issues I find troubling at times:
For example, and I may be the only one among the student body, I feel Veishea is getting out of control. Not only is the budget for it ridiculous, but the money isn’t necessarily put toward portraying a positive image of Iowa State. Ever since the riots, I feel the environment for Veishea has changed; it is no longer a community oriented event. I truly believe it attracts more people coming to party than coming for the parade and to celebrate what Veishea even stands for. I would be willing to guess 35 percent of the student body doesn’t even know what Veishea stands for, and this isn’t just freshmen. With that being said, I also realize the revenue it brings and I don’t propose canceling it, but I think some serious reformations must take place.
Another issue is the proposed tuition surcharge for the spring semester of 2010. How much are we talking here? I feel like the “one-time fees” and surcharges just keep piling up, and this will already be on top of the fees for the rec renovation fees set to quintuple in one year. Just for your consideration, after the initial budget cuts last year, I lost nearly all of my academic scholarships and I have a 3.87 GPA. Do I have a problem knowing that I am receiving $500/semester when a foreign exchange student or athlete is receiving a full-ride? You bet I do! I am actually making alternate plans for the spring because I don’t know if I can afford to continue my education at Iowa State, and that isn’t figuring in the “tuition surcharge.” I have struggled to put myself through school as it is, and my hope was to make it through this year and reevaluate. I suppose now with fees changing at semester, the plan changes to living one semester at a time. Another thing to consider: Federal student loans are issued on base tuition in the fall semester and do not provide “allowances” for university surcharges. I am sure I am not the only student in this financial situation, I just wish someone would at least acknowledge that fact.
Suggestions:
Other than (4) the tuition surcharge, I agree with the proposed list of strategies, especially the non-essential maintenance and assets in (5) and (8).
I would also suggest a closer consideration and possible student vote on new construction. I was here for the rec renovation debate and although the bill did pass, it’s clear that several students also had reserves. The e-mail from President Geoffroy says “These new facilities will help us to meet the needs of students.” That is very true, but right now I truly believe considerations need to be made on exactly what students need, not just what would be cool, or rank number one in the Big 12. Suppose construction is started for several new projects, I propose a focus on only what is necessary, leaving room for expansion when the economy is better.
And finally, with Veishea planning still underway, I would entertain a 5-10 percent budget cut, or something reasonable.
Thank you for allowing me to voice my opinion,

74
Dear President Geoffroy,
Thank you so much for encouraging and offering the opportunity to provide input about the budget situation.
I’ll pass along an idea I heard elsewhere — What about mandating 2X2 course schedules throughout the university? With classes scheduled on a Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday configuration the university could practically be closed on Fridays, which would save about 6 full weeks of operating costs for the entire year. Several universities do this already, with no classes on Fridays, and meetings (and other activities) strongly discouraged. Iowa State could essentially be closed Fridays through Sunday (with few, if any, services on those days).
Many kind regards,

75

1. Students need to pay a higher percentage of their educational expenses through tuition, no doubt.
2. Programs should not be cut unless there is no real value in them.
3. Faculty and staff benefits should not be touched.
4. The Athletic Department needs to become a part of the university. Staff and salaries need to be axed in the three major sports. No need for multiple coaches. The Athletic Department needs to contribute directly to the general budget of the university and stand in line like everyone else for funds. Million dollar salaries need to be eliminated. Athlete perks need to be reduced. Coaches need to be educators in the off season.
5. Salary reductions might be considered but only for the highest paid faculty and administrators.
6. All job searches should be frozen until the budget turns around. Existing faculty can cover the work.
7. Faculty should “actually” work a full time week for full-time pay. No more 20 hour contact or less for full time. We have high paid faculty who have less than 10 hours of class contact per week. This is appalling!! Regular folk in the real world would laugh at such a cushy schedule. I am half time and have 20 hours of contact. All of my preparation and research is extra.

76
In keeping with President Geoffroy’s invitation, I’ll pass along an idea I heard elsewhere and have shared via the Faculty Senate blogspot.
What about mandating 2X2 course schedules throughout the university? With classes scheduled on a Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday configuration the university could practically be closed on Fridays, which would save about 6 full weeks of operating costs for the entire year. Several universities do this already, with no classes on Fridays, and meetings (and other activities) strongly discouraged. Iowa State could essentially be closed Fridays through Sunday (with few, if any, services on those days).
If this is not adopted at the university level, we might consider if there would be any significant savings at the school level.

77
Half the money in local school budgets is state money, provided through the school foundation plan. If the unspent balance of K-12 and area school budgets reverted to the state on June 30 and was sent back on July 1, there wouldn’t be any deficit. This approach won’t solve the cash flow problem, but it does resolve the constitutional question of deficit spending.
The danger of raising this argument is that someone may want to revert unfilled faculty lines on the same basis, but this isn’t a problem, if funds are returned the next day.

78
Half the students who graduate from teacher education programs in Iowa never take a teaching license in any state. There is a 50 percent over capacity in these programs. Raising admission requirements for education would actually increase enrollment, as research shows, by providing a bigger piece of a smaller pie. If faculty FTE were held constant, this approach would pay. The danger in reducing enrollment and course sections in programs that generate a surplus (the Social Studies generally) is that this produces budget stringency somewhere else. Maybe the cash cows should be cut last and made more selective first.

79
With the 2009 RIO, employees and spouses that become Medicare eligible (turned 65) have to sign up for Medicare Parts A & B and the ISU plan then becomes a Medicare supplement saving the university around 50 percent in premium reduction. Currently continuous employees continue on their plan without having to sign up for Medicare.
Consider implementing this for employees that become Medicare eligible while employed.

80

1. Closing the University from Dec. 28 — Jan. 4.
   This would allow heat to be turned down and lights to be shut off.
   This could be paid time off(vacation) or unpaid furlough.
   Only allowing DPS and Power Plant, and Grounds to work if it snows.
2. Only publish the Daily twice a week.
3. Disconnect every other light in hallways.
4. Come up with a way to eliminate lights being on in classrooms, hallways and offices when not being used.

81
Dear Committee:
In my earlier message I suggested a suspension of intercollegiate athletics. This is intended to apply only to those sports that do not pay for themselves or return revenue to the university.

82
What about reducing business hours across campus? If all buildings were empty and lights, etc. were off, I would think it would save on energy and also on pay. This would be considered furlough time for salaried employees and reduce hourly wages.
Can we reduce lighting and turn off not only the computers but also all the power strips?

83
Dear President Geoffroy and colleagues,
Given that it may become necessary in the current budget climate to consider salary cuts, furloughs or benefit cuts among the faculty, I would like to suggest that any such cuts be applied in an income-progressive manner. My thoughts are inspired to some extent by the policy being applied at Princeton University, which froze salaries this year — but only for faculty and staff making more than $70,000. Some details can be found at: http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S25/41/95I57/. Given that faculty salary increases above a miniumum level at Iowa State are decided largely on the basis of strategic priorities determined by adminstiration, and that for the past 10 years the base salary increase level for faculty has not even reached the level of the increases granted to Merit staff under their collective bargaining agreement, it is clear that certain members of the faculty in certain strategic areas have benefitted much more than others through the better better budget times of the late 1990s and mid-2000s. I understand fully that such strategic decisions are necessary. Nonetheless if Iowa State seeks to remain a comprehensive and competitive research university, the faculty must not be allowed to feel as if there are administratively predetermined classes of higher-priority and lower-priority faculty. I fear that we are perilously close to having such a tiered priority structure among the faculty here, and despite the many things I value about this institution, it negatively impacts my desire to remain employed by Iowa State. I would therefore suggest that if and when cuts to faculty salary (permanent or temporary furlough) or benefits be implemented, those to whom the largest investments of institutional resources have been granted in good budget times be asked first to make sacrifices in these much leaner times — and tenured professors making $150,000 on a nine-month base can indeed much better afford them than those making barely one-third of that figure.
Many thanks for your many efforts.

84
I suggest:

• Asking offices/buildings to keep the thermostat set to a specific maximum.
• Turning off electronics (e.g. computers, copiers, printer, postage meter, coffeemaker) during extended times of non-use (overnight and on weekends).
• Possibly consider lessening the production, have a print-on-demand system or check on how many will likely be used when doing posters, publications, etc. I have a pile of around 24 ISU football posters sitting in my office that I was given but probably will put in the dumpster.
• Encourage people to print less when possible.
• I recently participated in a “LEAN”/“6 sigma” training that I think will be very helpful for identifying ways to improve our efficiency and embracing changes. Many other faculty/staff could benefit from it also.
• Offer/suggest that faculty and staff use their personal cell phones for long distance work calls if reasonable and if they can do it without impacting their personal use. Some people have more cell phone minutes each month than they use, or even unlimited calling.
• Furloughs or pay reductions instead of layoffs are a good idea. Perhaps offer employees the chance to volunteer for both options before requiring it.
• Our department handbook states that hourly employees should not volunteer their time to do their job. However, some people may be willing to do so under the current circumstances. What if that was made a temporarily accepted practice? Labor laws may require them to sign a waiver.
• Another option might be offering employees the opportunity to conveniently donate to the university through paycheck deductions. I think I would be more likely to do so if I made a pledge and/or if I didn’t have to write a check to Iowa State after receiving my paycheck.

Thank you for the opportunity to submit comments.

85
Dear Budget Committee members:
I share these thoughts on behalf of several at Vet Med.

1. FURLOUGH: Mandatory furloughs across the board (6,168 non-student employees per the latest count I could find) could result in savings of between $4 and 9 million from salary and FICA. Depending upon the number required (I based my estimates on 5-8, with an average salary of $20/hour), many employees would see less reduction in their pay than a salary reduction of as little as 3.5 percent. Additionally, the employees receive a perk with the furlough, some time to work at home or be with their families. (Call me an optimist-I believe people will step up and continue to get their work done even with less time available.)
2. FLEXIBILITY in FURLOUGH: Allowing employees to schedule their furlough days with their department head would provide optimum service to students and other stakeholders while offering some latitude in regard to the personal budgets of employees. The current time-off card could be utilized very easily to record the required furlough days as they are taken over the remaining 8 months in this fiscal year and should not result in additional costs during implementation. (assumes the payroll system is already set up to accommodate leave without pay)
3. BENEFITS: The health insurance provided by the university is some of the best my family has ever utilized and the premium is the lowest. (I have the HMO) Perhaps a larger cost share with employees would be in order.
4. HOLIDAYS: Close down all but essential units during the Christmas/Spring Break holiday, allowing employees to use furlough or vacation while they are off work. While the vacation pay will not provide an immediate cash savings the significant reduction in the accrued vacation may allow for some cost shifting to help fund other line items. Since the students are traditionally absent during these time periods, impact upon them would be mitigated.
5. STATUS REDUCTIONS: As opposed to laying off employees, reduce 1.0 FTE to 4/5 or 3/5 only for as long as necessary during this time of budget crisis. This will be a large financial hit to many employees, but does allow them to maintain a lion’s portion of their wages and all their benefits — something many families really depend upon. While this would not be practical for faculty (students are, after all, our reason for being here), many of us in P&S positions and probably Merit should be able to make this work. (Again, I admit to being an optimist and believing the “troops will rally”). This option also offers the slight perk of more time with family or even the opportunity for a side job if needed.
6. PURCHASING: Although not an easy thing to instill, requesting all departments use a “not-for-profit” mentality when buying supplies, equipment and other items could result in large savings. For instance, a common 17” monitor instead of a TV, shared printers among professionals, purchasing only when an item is needed as opposed to stock-piling supplies, B&W instead of color printing, etc.

86
Time for a Bold Step
With the massive budget cuts that Iowa State has been through and will continue to go through in the near future, it may be time for thinking outside of the box to continue to serve the people of Iowa without undue burden to the faculty and staff. Laying-off 10-20 percent of the staff could temporarily solve the budget crisis, but would cause tremendous hardship to those laid-off and a great burden to those remaining to fill in for the missing personnel. A mandatory 2-4 week furlough for all staff could temporarily ease the budget crunch, but what about the next fiscal year? What I propose is to question why in the 21st century we are still using the 40-hour 5-day work week model proposed in the 1930s.
Productivity has increased dramatically in the past few decades with the information technology revolution, and certainly is much greater today than it was in the ‘30s. According to an article by Erik Rauch, biophysicist and theoretical ecologist, “An average worker needs to work a mere 11 hours per week now to produce as much as one working 40 hours per week in 1950.” Would switching to a 32-hour 4-day week mean losing 20 percent of the productivity with Iowa State’s current 40+ hour 5+ day work week? Some companies that have experimented with the 32-hour work week have found that workers are more focused in the shorter work week and that therefore there is no drop in productivity. With three days each week to attend to personal matters, workers are less distracted at work, and more productive (http://positivesharing.com/2006/04/the-cult-of-overwork-again/). Would this also apply to an educational institution? I’ve found that I am much more efficient today in developing educational materials and providing education to clients in today’s information society than I was in the 1980s.
Of course this would mean salaries would be cut by 20 percent, which could be a burden to some, but certainly 80 percent of a full salary is better than the alternative of 0 percent. In a survey of all professional and scientific staff at Iowa State in April, 2009, more staff agreed than disagreed with the option of working a 32-hour 4-day work week at 80 percent salary as a solution to the budget crisis (http://www.pscouncil.iastate.edu/activities/surveys/2009/Survey04-20-09University.pdf). This may not be the best option for all personnel, but if given the choice of permanently going to an 80 percent position, versus a one-time 2-4 week furlough, enough might choose the permanent change that it would ease future budget crises. If the economic climate improves in the future, the 80 percent positions could be converted back to full-time positions, but based on other companies’ experiences, most staff would probably choose to stay 80 percent.

87
I am on the Extension Counsel for Montgomery County and I suggest that this time you should cut from the top. If you cut from the bottom, like last time you won’t have an Extension service left. You at the top make a whole lot more money than these folks at the bottom so we could save money without effecting as many people. And considering how much trust we have lost in you folks we wouldn’t miss you as much! We little people, who do so much of the unpaid work of 4H and Extension are tired of taking it in the short everytime. And as far as our imput goes, it didn’t seem to matter much what we thought last time. So you have lost our trust and I don’t think this message will have much effect as well. But at least I have had my say! Have a nice day.

88
UBAC,
Thank you for all your hard work during this budget crisis. It is not an easy nor enjoyable task.
I would like to say that I would take a pay cut or furlough days to prevent layoffs. Also, a temporary cut in benefits would be acceptable.

89
To whom it may concern,
I have found a really interesting article by the College of Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona that may be a good fit for the College of Engineering.
Some aspects of the article, courses being offered and named from different departments, are already utilized by the college, but the rest of the articles shows how to basically act as a private enterprise.
Best regards,
College of Optical Sciences
Dean’s Office
1630 E. University Blvd.
Tucson, Arizona 85721-0094
THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA ®

James C. Wyant
520-621-2448
Fax: 520-621-9613
jcwyant@optics.arizona.edu
www.optics.arizona.edu

October 13, 2008
Name of Unit
College of Optical Sciences

Contact

James C. Wyant
Dean, College of Optical Sciences
1630 E. University Blvd.
Tucson, AZ 85721-0094
520-621-2448
jcwyant@optics.arizona.edu

Proposal Team
Gary Esham, Associate Dean of Finance and Administration, College of Optical Sciences
Carl Maes, Associate Dean of Academic Programs, College of Optical Sciences
James C. Wyant, Dean, College of Optical Sciences

Proposal developed in consultation with students, faculty, and staff of the College of Optical Sciences and discussions with faculty and administrators in the College of Engineering and the College of Science Units Involved. Part of the proposal involves courses in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, and Physics in addition to the College of Optical Sciences. The proposal also involves the possible transfer of faculty from the College of Engineering, the College of Science, and the College of Medicine to the College of Optical Sciences. While the College of Optical Sciences has had nine budget cuts in seven years we are financially sound because we have both reduced unnecessary expenses and more importantly we have greatly increased our revenue through many means as described below. Furthermore, Optical Sciences appears to already be structured in a manner which is consistent with the direction the U of A would like to go. We have no departments and we have a cost effective administration which is centralized at the college level. Because we are not hurting like so much of the U of A we feel the most beneficial thing we can do for our transformation plan is to help other portions of the university. We have had group meetings with students, faculty and staff, as well as many one-on-one meetings, and we have three ideas in mind, but as others think about this, more ideas may surface. Teaching undergraduate courses in physics and math. We currently co-teach 16 courses with electrical and computer engineering, materials science and engineering, and physics and these cross-listed courses work very well. In recent discussions with the head of ECE we identified seven courses that ECE and Optical Sciences could combine and cross-list to free up some teaching resources. We have identified 16 undergraduate physics courses that we could easily help teach and we are sure there are several undergraduate math courses that we can also help with. This could start as soon as next semester. Bring in other entrepreneurial faculty and units that are closely aligned with optics The atmosphere at the College of Optical Sciences is extremely entrepreneurial and we would like to add faculty from other units who want to work in this type of atmosphere. There are many possibilities because optics is involved in so many fields and there are many disciplines that would fit in the College of Optical Sciences. Interested faculty should contact us.
Help spread the entrepreneurial spirit
The real solution for solving the university’s bad financial situation is not in cutting costs because this has been done again and again the past few years and there is little fat left, but rather the solution is to increase revenues. In the College of Optical Sciences we have a strong entrepreneurial spirit that has made it possible for us to increase revenues and grow. Our proposal is that a few of us could work with other units on campus to help them increase their entrepreneurial spirit and revenue. We want to warn you that while we think this has a good chance of success, it will take some time and it will not produce large results over night. To help convince others to want to work with us we will now describe a little about how we operate and we will give some of our successes. Our funding model is different from many of the other colleges. We receive little state allocated funds, but we receive a larger rate of overhead return than most colleges. This means our financial condition is more in our own hands and there is a large incentive to increase our outside grants and contracts. Since we get a larger percentage of the overhead return we are able to invest it in the areas that we feel will give the best payoff. I think this is a model that other colleges should use. At least research intensive colleges should be willing to give up state allocated funds for an increased overhead return percentage because this way they should be able to increase revenue over time. The central administration should also be willing to make this tradeoff because as the college’s revenue increases the university’s revenue also increases. We allow our faculty members to get pay increases if they have sufficient funds from outside grants/contracts to pay the increase. The pay increase is given with the agreement that if at any time the faculty member is not able to pay the increase off his own rants/contracts the compensation goes back to the level it would have been without this increase. This provides a big incentive for the faculty member to maintain a healthy level of outside grants and contracts. The faculty member, college and university all benefit from this arrangement.
How well is all this working? The table below shows some performance numbers per tenure/tenure track faculty member for FY08. This last year our grants and contracts increased by 27 percent and they have more than doubled over the last five years. Other items are also shown in the table to show that we know that outside grants and contracts are not the only quantity of importance.
Some performance numbers for FY08
Per tenure/tenure-track faculty member
State Allocation — $111,193
Indirect cost earned — $152,693
New grants/contracts — $745,770
Graduate students — 8.5
Ph.D students — 6
Publications in 2007 — 6.8
We also have a distance learning program where we record many of our courses and then students throughout the world, mostly industrial scientists and engineers, take these courses to get either a Certificate in Optical Sciences or a Masters in Optical Sciences. The faculty involved in these distance learning courses share in the revenue so there is an incentive to teach distance learning courses. Again the faculty member, the college, and the university all benefit from this arrangement. The College of Optical Sciences received ABOR approval for the additional fees charged for the distance learning courses which allows the university to include our distance learning students in the state 22:1 calculation.
We have also sold these courses to universities, companies and individuals in the U.S., China and Europe. Again the faculty member gets a portion of the revenue so there is an incentive to do the additional work associated with the distance learning courses.
We also sell short courses on DVDs and this November we are giving our second group of short courses in Japan. The faculty members involved with the short courses of course get a portion of the revenue so there is an incentive to do the additional work associated with the short courses.
In FY08 the College of Optical Sciences accounted for approximately 1/3 of the utility patent filings for the university and for recent years Optical Sciences is always among the top two colleges (with Medicine), if not the top, for patents filed. While we have not yet made a lot of money on patents, the amount we are making is increasing and we are putting additional effort into patents because of the large potential income we see. The inventors of course share in the revenue so there is a good incentive to do the additional work involved in doing patent disclosures.
We have approximately 50 Industrial Affiliates that support our Academic Program. The income from the Industrial Affiliates Program helps us recruit students, provide student scholarships, pay for student travel to industry conferences, pay for graduate student teaching assistantships, buy optics library material, provide equipment for teaching laboratories, and sponsor senior capstone projects. The meetings with the Industrial Affiliates often leads to research contracts with industry, consulting jobs for faculty, summer jobs for students, and of courses full-time jobs for our graduates. The faculty and staff work hard on this program because there is a good incentive for having a successful program.
During our last five years we have grown our development effort with an emphasis on scholarships for students. We know that to get the best PhD graduate students we have to offer funding to all the PhD students we accept. Most of our MS students also require funding. The University provides good financial aid for most of our undergraduate students, but we know that being able to provide some additional funding to them helps us get the best. Our research grants and contracts support many students, but there is always a need for more student funding. The faculty work very hard in this development effort to get scholarship money because they know this money helps in recruiting the best students available and having the best students is essential to their teaching and research program. By concentrating our development effort on scholarship funds there is a strong incentive for all faculty members to help.
While the TRIF program in optics is run out of the College of Optical Sciences, the College of Engineering, the College of Science, and the College of Medicine are also very much involved with the TRIF optics program. Again, I think that because of our entrepreneurial spirit, the TRIF return on investment (ROI) in FY08 for Optics was 9.4 compared to 5.2 for Bioresearch and 3.8 for Water and Environmental Sustainability. (For sake of completeness, the Biodesign Institute at ASU had an ROI of 3.8.)
Not only has our entrepreneurial spirit enabled us to thrive in a period of decreasing state support, but over the years it has led to several faculty, staff and students starting companies and several companies setting up facilities in Tucson so they can work with us and hire our graduates. It has enabled the College of Optical Sciences to become internationally known as a leader, and probably the leader, in the world in the field of optical sciences and engineering.
We would like to work with other parts of the University of Arizona that may not have as much entrepreneurial spirit as us to increase their entrepreneurial spirit and hopefully increase their revenue so they are not as dependent upon the ever decreasing state support.
Budget
We could probably teach 3-5 undergraduate classes per semester and the cost savings is whatever the physics department is paying instructors to teach these classes.
Most of our proposal is for increasing revenue instead of reducing expenses. It is hard to estimate how much the revenue would be increased, but it could be a sizeable amount.

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I am aware, as a staff member who covers my spouse under medical, that I have ‘family’ medical coverage, although there are no children for whom I am making claims. Might it save money to finally offer cafeteria type coverage, whereby childless insureds may elect coverage for which premiums are charged on the basis of coverage for only one other person, while those insureds with family coverage for a family of four to six are charged premiums on the basis of coverage for the number of extra dependents?