Present: President Fritz, Provost Parrish, Chief of Staff Wallace; Professor Delgadio, Sanchez, Tellefsen, Verzani; and HEO Murphy
The president announced plans to appoint Rob Wallace from Chief of Staff and Executive Legal Counsel to an interim position titled Vice President of Budget Strategy and External Affairs. The position would assume much of the portfolio of outgoing Vice President for Economic Development, Continuing Studies, and Government Relations, Ken Iwama. Current Director of Employee Relations and Labor Designee, Jessica Collura, would assume the duties of Mr. Wallace. Though there would be no salary increases for either Mr. Wallace or Ms. Collura, the college would have to backfill a legal position, which traditionally has been a HEO-level appointment.
The Executive Committee expressed its strong concerns regarding this particular plan. Many of these concerns were previously expressed when the president announced the position of VP of Facilities, and the position of Vice President for Economic Development, Continuing Studies, and Government Relations and involve:
the concern that these positions have essentially no counterpart in the administrative structure of most all higher education administrations
that the portfolio combination is poorly defined and that what the college should consider instead is a VP of Finance and Administration model, that proves effective at most all the other CUNY Senior Colleges
That the college should be looking to save money through vacancies at this point
That the cabinet is heavy in individuals with training as lawyers and accountants, but not as academics. This tone can make some feel as though the work at a factory, not an institution of higher education.
That the appointee has no relevant work history related to many of the new duties. It should be stressed, that despite objections to the position, there are no concerns, and only high regard, as to the abilities of Mr. Wallace in his current duties.
The move is subject to CUNY's Vacancy Review Board and approval by the full board of trustees.
The question of the budget came up. At the time there were several questions:
Are there plans for furloughs/layoffs/pay cuts? No. These are contractual concerns and only would happen with negotiations between the University and the respective unions.
The question of 10%, 3%?
The college had been warned that a 10% budget cut should be planned for. The University later amended this to planning for a 3% cut, which is based on known facts. (There are several unknown factors which may move this number back up to 10% or not, but the 3% is likely a best-case scenario.) As such, some shifting of the plans had occurred: a 20% (not 35%) reduction in the adjunct budget and a 3M cut in pay to College Assistants. There have been savings to the campus, due to the closure since mid-Marcy, but many personnel positions remained filled, so the savings are modest, as payroll has been maintained.
What can we do? We must maintain infrastructure; maintain research; work with a smaller workforce.
The continuing discussion about communication on campus and concerns about its effectiveness were raised.