Present: Provost Parrish, AVP Serrano, Chief of Staff Wallace; Professor's Cumiskey, Milligan, Sanchez, Verzani; Higher Education Officer DeMeglio
https://csi-covid19.github.io/CUNY/6-9-FY2020.pdf
As for CSI, our projected year end balance is 19K; heading into the year our balance was 13k. The expenditures and resources are essentially the same.
The projected revenue over tuition target is -1.8M, a bit better than our mid-year position; better than last year's ending position (though there was a signifcant adjustment to this year's target so that comparison is not a straight comparison.) The college was on track to make a dent in this, as collections had improved as of February. It was noted that some campuses (notably KBCC) had a huge negative change in this category post March.
we heard non-tax levy resources are severely challenged, though no numbers were discussed (Auxiliary,
...)
We don't know if there is any unencumbered OTPS; close out isn't completed until September, typically.
The June 30 end of budget year means trying to get purchases done and delivered by that date.
Historically, the college would be notified of its initial allocation by the end of June.
At CUNY's Admin Council there was notice that there is currently no allocation numbers known. These will likely be known the 1st or 2nd week of July
(NYS may make another adjustment to its revenue projections by June 30th. At the last opportunity, end of April, the April 1 budget was to be modified by ~10B for state agencies. Presumably, CUNY is waiting for that decision. Meanwhile, the state is waiting the outcome of the HEROS act, which promises 35B for the state...)
While at one point, colleges were alerted to prepare for a 10% reduction, it is currently working on a contingency of a 3% reduction.
We reviewed several reductions (real and possible)
The campus based allocation is ~110M
While campus based expenditures would typically go up 5%, the initial NYS budget for CUNY showed only a ~2% increase, pending a tuition increase (this is a 3% reduction). (The reserve was used to pay prioir year's contractual increases, but going forward this must come from the campus-based resources.)
the tuition increase may not pass the board. This is roughly a 2% reduction
the state budget may ask for 10% reductions,
the enrollment picture appears to be heded to a 5% reduction, Every 1.25% drop is about a 1% reduction in campus based resources; so that would be a ~4% reduction
The cares act brought students at CSI ~6.3M (mostly allocated)
The CARES act brings CSI ~ 6.3M for covid related expenses (response to and planning for). This money has not come to campus; There is an addition 900k, with similar restrictions, coming as we are a hispanic serving institution.
It was suggested that some of this money could pay for creative teaching (the equivalent of having TAs in large lectures).
It is uncertain how fungible these funds will prove to be
There was a sentiment expressed that FEMA funds may be more certain
There was a chicken-and-egg problem mentioned: we don't have funds to spend so that we can get reimbursed
To that, the question of whether endowment funds could be used for purchases was raised. In general these funds have restrictions on the amount spent per year so that the capital is preserved (e.g., CUNY's investment fund lowered their cap recently to 3.75%, down from 4.25%). The specific details of the case of the 7M Business School endowment were not discussed.
the college has asked departments to submit logs on expenses, and use special codes for CUNY First
In response to a question about the cost of delays, we heard:
work with subcommittees to track quantities
CARES money is one-shot money
figure out how to leverage it
can't afford everything
gather supplies, materials and phase it
IT/Facilities investments
can we sustain: Example: if we have to provide face masks for 1200 people, 1 per day, for one semester this is around 100k
We heard that the following was shared with P&B: contingency plans for bad scenarios include 3M reduction in the CA budget. (Emphasize, this is part of a plan and may not come to pass). (3M in CAs is about 200 1020-hour lines).
It was pointed out that P&B is not a wide enough venue for this discussionn.
It was noted that several creative ideas could be discussed, but aren't being due to the forums for dscussion (an emphasis on the P&B).