[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: The New England Regional Student Program, created in 1957, is a cooperative program among public institutions throughout New England. All 79 public colleges and universities participate voluntarily, allowing New England graduate and undergraduate students access at a reduced tuition rate to academic programs not offered at their home-state institutions. In the past, tuition for students enrolling in this program was no more than 125% of the receiving institution's in-state tuition. In Fall 1990, this ceiling was raised to 150% of in-state tuition, and with that increase, the UNH "grant," or discount per NERSP student decreased from $5300/year to $4680/year (i.e., the difference between NERSP tuition and out-of-state tuition). Given the changes in in-state and out-of-state tuition levels since 1990, the NERSP "grant" or discount equaled $6495/year per student in FY95. Raising the NERSP rate ceiling to 200% for FY96 would have the effect of reducing the UNH "grant" or discount from $6495 to $4800, a still substantial discount for out-of-state students.
Conditions: The participants' rate for the NERSP is set by the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE). To implement such a change as proposed here, that Board would have to vote approval at their October meeting. Contact with admissions officers at the five other land grant institutions indicates strong support for the proposed change. Upon hearing about UNH's interest in raising the rate, the President of the University of Rhode Island wrote the Commissioner of Higher Education expressing his strong support. Other NEBHE institutions may be persuaded to support the proposal since the rate specifies only a maximum; institutions can choose to set their rates lower. In order for the UNH proposal to reach NEBHE, it must be approved by USNH Administrative Board and the Board of Trustees.
Strategies: Encourage NEBHE to make this change in policy.
Projected Outcomes: Assuming the same number of graduate and undergraduate NERSP participants as are currently enrolled in the program, the total in new revenue that would accrue to the out-of-state tuition revenue account in FY98 would be $497,025. While the amount of new revenue will vary from year to year due to fluctuations in tuition rates, the level of savings should remain high in the immediate years to come. Because this projected new tuition revenue depends on NEBHE approval, it is put into the contingent category.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: Such a priority should be attractive to potential donors, even those most interested in athletics, and any endowed scholarships achieved (including athletic scholarships) could offset Fund 1000 financial aid expenditures.
Conditions: The Foundation has demonstrated its ability to identify fundraising themes and to succeed in implementing them: the priority on endowments for faculty chairs and professorships was a highly successful first project, and the current, urgent need for private support of the new recreation and sports facility has further galvanized Foundation fundraising efforts. The present shortfall in the University's operating budget was brought on, in part, by a growing reliance on financial aid for recruiting out-of-state students; we have managed to use current one-time funds to bridge until our continuing deficit is resolved. Establishing endowed scholarships as a new and urgent fundraising priority may necessarily displace other plans, but the benefit to Fund 1000 would have widespread value.
Strategies: The UNH Foundation has already established a priority on raising endowment funds. Establish a goal and timeline for this priority, and launch the campaign.
Projected Outcome: The Planning Council urges that a contingent goal be established quickly, so that an offset to Fund 1000 financial aid can be posted as part of this planning exercise.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: It may be possible to achieve savings through alternative energy sources and successful rate negotiations.
Conditions: Discussions have transpired about converting to natural gas, and negotiations are underway about our electric rate.
Strategies: Aggressively pursue the option of bringing natural gas to campus. Continue negotiating with NH Public Utilities Commission to approve a new electrical rate structure (currently under review).
Projected Outcomes: A successful negotiation of the electric rate would yield $480,000 per year; this number must remain contingent until the new rate is approved.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: Telecommunications has a contract with USNH to provide management and technical services to operate the USNH wide-area network.
Conditions: Recent approval to hire a wide-area network technician funded by USNH allows a reduction in the UNH contribution.
Strategies: Reduce this support.
Projected Outcomes: $22,000 would be recovered with no diminution of service to the user community.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: Cost-savings recommendations regarding the Financial Aid Office must be considered in the context of the dual mission of the office as well as with a sensitivity to the potential impact on student recruitment and retention.
Conditions: The Financial Aid Office experiences heavy demand almost year-round and has only traditional means for meeting that demand (i.e., primarily telephone and one-on-one personal consultations). For these reasons, the Financial Aid Office is sometimes perceived as either understaffed or ineffective. One means of addressing this problem may be the creation of a Student Support Services Center, described elsewhere in this report. But before any such change is undertaken, the operations of the Financial Aid Office should be studied.
Strategies: Two people who are knowledgeable of financial aid services and operations and have held significant responsibilities for its administration at other universities should be invited to campus to address the following issues: how the mission of the Financial Aid office can be carried on most effectively, what criteria are appropriate for evaluating the work of the office, and whether the duties of the office are distributed among the staff in an appropriate way.
Projected Outcomes: A study of this nature could lead to recommendations such as redefining staff positions or adding more personnel to achieve quality. Nevertheless, in this case the matter of quality assurance is of sufficient importance that the study needs to be carried out.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: Both the Student Support Services and Academic Programs Task Forces have found that questions and projections about enrollment and their impact of revenue are best viewed in a broad context. Additionally, the Planning Council accepts the argument that enrollment planning should be regarded as a centrally important administrative function of the University.
Conditions: At present, the functions of admissions, financial aid, and institutional research are coordinated in the Office of Academic Affairs, with the directors reporting either to the Provost or to an Associate Vice President. Whatever the administrative structure, the functions of these offices should be integrated.
Strategies: Find various means for coordinating these functions.
Projected Outcomes: No cost savings are projected here. A stronger, integrated enrollment management operation should advantage recruitment efforts and therefore tuition revenue significantly.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: In an academic setting, departments or programs representing disciplines or interdisciplinary subjects are the primary operating units. Faculty and many staff identify themselves with departments, and department chairs are "front-line" administrators. Decisions critical to the future of the University, such as tenure and promotion decisions, originate among faculty in department units, and the best kind of academic planning likewise happens "bottom up."
Conditions: Academic budgets tend to change only incrementally and have been subject to changing or freezing by the central administration. Department faculty do not typically feel involved in planning decisions involving budgets. There is no clear basis for evaluating the use of academic budgets of various kinds.
Strategies: Use the biennial budget cycle as a planning calendar, inviting departments and programs to assert their claims on college and university resources competitively. Encourage these units to exploit the capacity to shift resources across budgetary lines (faculty and staff, personnel and support) in pursuit of their specific missions. Insure that the missions of individual units are clearly specified and ratified administratively. Determine budgets accordingly, and protect them against mid-year freezes and rescissions.
Projected Outcomes: Such a system of program-based budgeting should become the basis for evaluations of the performance of programs and the individuals within them.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: Energy conservation pays in reduced energy costs. According to the Facilities Resource Management (FRM) report, the energy management program on campus has been very successful to date, but significant savings can still be achieved.
Conditions: Work on a Utility Master Plan is currently underway and expected to be completed by December 1, 1997.
Strategies: Continue efforts to better manage energy consumption. Implement the recommendations of the Utility Master Plan.
Projected Outcomes: Once implemented, a Utilities Master Plan can be expected to yield $250,000 to $300,000 in annual savings.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: When the University System office was established, the legislature was assured that this new administrative level would involve no additional funds. Since that time, the System office has, by turns, grown considerably (with up to four vice chancellors and related staff) and decreased in size as functions were moved or returned to the UNH campus. The budget for FY96 is $4.1 million, down from previous years, but still at a level that calls into question its value, given that its centrality to the primary mission of the University is questionable. Furthermore, and budgetary considerations aside, recent events have indicated that multiple offices engaged in the same activity can lead to confusion, poor communication, and inefficiency of operation.
Conditions: UNH contributes 70% of the total cost of the central administration at the system offices. Several of the system offices duplicate services provided on campus. Those and their FY96 budget amounts are:
Academic Planning $ 93,980
Policy Analysis $155,280
Human Resources $595,387
Planning/Budget $295,777
Capital Planning $146,712
Strategies: Movement toward a more streamlined and cost-effective
administration would be achieved with a 50% reduction in the UNH
contribution to the System.
Projected Outcomes: Savings of $450,498, but contingent on approval outside the institution.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: Solid waste reduction is the key to the future of containing solid waste disposal costs for the University.
Conditions: The future success of our recycling program can be greatly enhanced by focused support from all campus administrators, starting with top management.
Strategies: Introduce new campaign with top management endorsement. Increase profits from sale of additional recycled materials (subject to market fluctuations).
Projected Outcomes: The anticipated increased revenue is $15,000.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: Because tuition is UNH's dominant revenue source, the linkage among our published tuition rates, unfunded student financial aid, and enrollment is a major puzzle to be solved in understanding our finances and planning our budget. One solution is the concept of net revenue.
Conditions: Under current accounting practices, tuition revenue is defined as the published tuition rate times total enrollment (allowing for different tuition rate categories). This figure is entered into the revenue side of the ledger. Unfunded or University-funded student aid is entered into the expense side of the ledger. While this practice may be commendable as an accounting practice, it is misleading for planning purposes because it suggests that the University is able to earn the full tuition revenue and that unfunded student aid is a discretionary variable. This approach ignores important enrollment demand issues, i.e., how many resident and non-resident students are willing and able to pay the published tuition rates and how many additional students must the university admit with financial aid in order to meet enrollment targets in a cost efficient way.
Strategies: Accept the analysis of this issue offered by a subcommittee of the Student Services Task Force (see the task force report). Apply concepts developed there to decisions about budget planning, targeted admissions, and financial aid packaging.
Projected Outcomes: Although no direct dollar saving is posted from this recommendation, decisions about enrollment and financial aid may be made with a greater degree of confidence on this basis.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: These organizational structures should be reviewed to determine if the same services could be provided in a more efficient manner. Outsourcing should be considered an option wherever possible.
Conditions: C/H/P reorganized in 7/95 when a vacant supervisory position was reclassified to a carpenter. Future staffing refinements are possible as Plant Maintenance continues to change to meet the needs of the institution. Working with Facilities Resource Management (FRM) a redefined vision for Grounds and Roads has been adopted, according to which Grounds and Roads should be reorganized to bring all supervisors closer to the staff in the field. This will be imperative as we employ more student/hourly staff. According to another recommendation, the University should not outsource the single person trades without first pursuing competitive pricing from outside contractors.
Strategies: Previous studies should be implemented. If outsourcing proves cost-effective, it should be considered seriously.
Projected Outcomes: No savings will be realized unless outsourcing can lead to lower costs, which will then be distributed among University departments.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: Many parents and students pay tuition by using a deferred payment plan option. The University has a contract with the Tuition Management Systems (TMS) to provide these services. For FY96, TMS charges parents a fee of $60 if enrolled before 7/1/95, and $75 after 7/1/95, on an average contract of $7700 (gross dollars represent over $14 million per year). The University receives from TMS a piece of this fee, or $20 before July 1 and $35 after July 1. TMS then acts as a liaison between parents and the University, and forwards payments to UNH each month for 10 months. There is a deliberate delay between when TMS receives the payments from the parents, which they can then invest, and when these payments reach the University. This represents a potential loss of revenue to UNH, which should be weighed against the amount of investment the University would earn if we either brought the service in-house, or increased the amount received from TMS.
Conditions: There has been a steady rise in the number of people preferring to spread their tuition payments -- from 870 in FY92 to an estimated 1793 in FY96. It is assumed that given the magnitude of tuition payments, this option will continue to be appealing. In fact, in order to remain competitive, we must offer some type of deferred payment plan. It should be noted that Business Services is very satisfied with TMS, and believes they provide good and timely service. No difficulty has been experience with the tape feed or other logistical information provided by TMS.
Strategies: UNH is currently in the last year of a three-year contract with TMS. The Business Services Office should work with Purchasing to solicit bids for a deferred payment plan. At the same time, Business Services should calculate the cost of operating this service in-house taking into consideration all personnel and operating costs. A comparison should be undertaken to determine the most cost effective way to offer a deferred payment plan.
Projected Outcomes: If UNH continues to outsource this service, we should experience an increase in the amount of the fee charged per client--thus, our revenues should go up. If we decide to offer this service in-house, the cost of providing this service (staff and supplies) should be netted against the benefit of investing our tuition money quicker, and we could earn additional short-term investment income. In either case, it is anticipated that by increasing the fee by an additional $40, UNH will yield an additional $71,960 in revenue.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: Central Stores is a not a fund 1000 operation. However, this department provides a wide variety of goods to campus departments, some of which pay for these services with general funds.
Conditions: Although finding a sole source who could provide all or most of the same scope of goods is unlikely, efficiencies can be achieved in the operation of this department and cost avoidance can be achieved in several areas.
Strategies: Investigate the possibility of outsourcing Central Stores. If acted upon, this would reduce staff by six FTEs. Liquidate the inventory presently on hand if Central Stores are outsourced. Have contracted vendor make deliveries to the various work sites on campus. If outsourcing is not feasible, streamline the Central Stores operation. Just-in-Time delivery of stock from distributors will be vigorously pursued and the method of handling Central Stores sales will be streamlined.
Projected Outcomes: If outsourced, this non-fund 1000 operation will reduce staff by six FTEs and all inventory will be liquidated. If not outsourced, but streamlined, Central Stores will reduce staffing levels by three FTES with a cost avoidance of $74,000. This in turn will reduce the markup percentage on goods sold from 25% to 16.89% beginning in FY97. In this way, savings in the cost of materials will be realized by UNH, but these savings cannot be captured centrally.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: Facilities Services is currently very dependent on workstudy and non-status hourly labor (2065.25 non-status labor hours through 10/20/95). With the addition of the new facilities on campus (Biological Sciences Center, Rec Sports Center, etc.) the need for additional help with snow removal operations will increase.
Conditions: An increase in student workforce necessitates a corresponding increase in the need for supervision. For snow removal operations, this supervision requirement is increased around the clock.
Strategies to Achieve Goal: Eliminate two existing vacant grounds worker positions and hire additional student help to perform the same services.
Projected Outcomes: Reduce staff by 2 FTEs (vacancies) and save $42,000 in salaries.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: UNH is committed to providing its students with a complete education to prepare them to lead competent, productive, and enriched lives in both professional and personal settings. In the context of this commitment, the University should encourage and facilitate informed choice on the part of students in fulfilling University degree requirements, and the University should expect students to be accountable for those choices.
Conditions: UNH's current policies that stress student responsibility for meeting degree requirements, planning workable course schedules, and making informed choices about majors, minors and electives are countervailed by the practice of requiring an advisor's authorization for every course registration and modification of that registration. Additionally, behaviors of both students and advisors suggest that such a practice is unnecessary. Students regularly contact the first available person "for a signature" rather than their assigned advisor; advisors regularly quickly sign registration forms after little or no discussion with the student because they surmise that the student knows what he/she is doing. Finally, the practice of requiring authorization encourages some students and parents to blame the advisor when students do not fulfill requirements.
Strategies: As part of UNH's plan to develop its computer information systems, give students electronic access to student information and the electronic capability to transact their administrative business; this will require the establishment of computer work stations freely accessible to students in central locations on campus. Establish a comprehensive on-line system of advising that incorporates not only student access to records but also student access to "user-friendly," interactive, information services that provide answers to questions about general education, major program requirements, scheduling issues, and careers. Encourage students to interact directly with their advisors and counselors via e-mail. Eliminate mandatory advising every semester for every student. Take steps to encourage students to have regular contact with their advisors about substantive issues. Automate student administrative support services provided by the Registrar's office (e.g., degree audits, transcript copying), the Financial Aid office (e.g., award descriptions), and the Business Office (e.g., account status), and make information accessible directly to students via computer work stations. As part of the new student orientation program, provide appropriate information about the purposes, structures, and requirements of the general education program and about registration and various relevant business procedures so as to facilitate students' unassisted use of technology resources in registering for classes and in transacting their administrative business.
Projected Outcomes: If all of the above strategies were implemented successfully, students would have increased access to reliable, accurate, timely information and advice about their academic planning, career options, and financial affairs, thereby increasing the quality of their decisions about these matters. Faculty and professional staff time during the "crunch" period of preregistration could be redirected to other pressing demands. Savings should be realized in the form of a reduction in continuing, temporary and part-time advising and support staff in the schools and colleges and support offices equalling approximately 4 FTES positions and totalling approximately $130,000 with benefits.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: New Hampshire students must afford what the State of New Hampshire does not provide for the University to meet their cost of education.
Conditions: It is clear that out-of-state student tuition revenues subsidize the educational costs of NH students at UNH. Various estimates of this subsidy have been considered by a subcommittee of the Student Support Services Task Force (see the task force report). That report also contends that tuition for in-state students can be increased without significantly hampering access for New Hampshire students to higher education opportunities.
Strategies: Direct the information from this report to the USNH Trustees, who set tuition rates.
Projected Outcomes: No new tuition dollars can reasonably be projected from increased tuition rates until the Trustees are persuaded that increases are justified.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: The University has an inventory of surplus property, and much of this real estate requires an investment of University funds to pay for maintenance and taxes. This cost should be curtailed.
Conditions: An assessment of all surplus property should be undertaken to determine if the property provides any value to UNH. If it does not, and if donor restrictions do not preclude sale of this inventory, property should be liquidated at fair market value. For properties that are retained, try to generate sufficient revenue through income producing measures to cover all associated maintenance costs.
Strategies to Achieve Goal: Hire an aggressive realtor to market properties for sale. It should be noted that liquidating real estate is dependent on market conditions and results will not be immediate.
Projected Outcomes: It is anticipated that liquidating property should provide at least $500,000 in new revenue. A quasi-endowment should then be created, which would yield an annual payout of $25,000. This figure must be regarded as contingent, in the circumstances.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: In order to meet program requirements or expectations, students at UNH often must see multiple, specialized advisors (e.g., international programs advisor, honors advisor, career counselor, undeclared student advisor), thereby increasing the demands on students' and advisors' time and also increasing the chances for uncoordinated, even contradictory advice to students. There are strong relationships between and among the various specialty areas that should serve as a foundation for a more integrated approach to student advising. For instance, there is a natural relationship between academic degree pursuits and career exploration and choice. While the nature of this relationship varies, especially in comparing, for example, the sciences with liberal arts, much benefit may be realized from a dedicated, collaborative effort to introduce the range of career options related to academic choices as early as possible in a student's tenure. This introduction should include providing a gamut of possibilities ranging from a highly specific description of career options for those with clear long term goals, to a more open investigation of options based on, a liberal arts foundation. Both types of discussions would be facilitated by a closer relationship between the University Advising Center and Career Services.
Conditions: Presently, advising for undergraduate students is dependent upon one's declaration of a major and involvement in special academic programs. The majority of first year students and a significant number of second year students receive their advising in the University Advising Center. Center advisees include primarily about 1400-1600 students enrolled in the College of Liberal Arts without a major or undergraduate school/college interest, approximately 300-400 provisional majors in selected Liberal Arts departments, who need to fill departmental entry requirements, and approximately 150 premedical/predental students. Both the Center's professional staff and its part-time faculty advisors need to be knowledgeable in a variety of areas as they assist students in choosing majors. Those areas include general education requirements, major and program requirements and requisites, University policies and procedures and career options. Undeclared students admitted into CEPS, COLSA, HHS and WSBE are advised in those colleges/schools. Those students in the University Honors Program, the dual major and study abroad programs through the Center for International Education, and athletic programs, also see advisors associated with those offices. Career Services plays an important role in helping students to identify, and later explore career options. While this may often occur later in a student's tenure, there are opportunities to help students early by virtue of interest and personal style testing, self-assessment workshops, and individual counseling by professional counselors. A closer working relationship with advising would help students to see the clear connections between choice of major and choice of career.
Strategies: Determine a possible site for locating University Advising, specialty advising and Career Services in contiguous space. Encourage the directors of all involved programs and units to discuss possible opportunities to work together toward a more collaborative program of advising and career counseling. Pursue possibilities to share personnel, information and/or other resources among units. For example, consider a joint reception function, possible front-line generalist roles for professional staff, or other possible cooperative efforts that may enhance the programs and services to students.
Projected Outcomes: This goal seeks to establish a "seamless" approach to advising service delivery for a major portion of our students. While specific savings are difficult to predict, it is likely that shared resources will result in more efficient and more "user-friendly" services. An estimated savings of approximately $50,000 can be anticipated. This amount might be realized through cross training, savings of paper and telephone costs, and staff reduction equivalent to one or two FTEs. These savings are based on an assumption of no growth in the undergraduate enrollment. Any approved enrollment increases should result in a re-evaluation of these projected savings.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: Such auxiliaries as housing and dining depend for their revenues on students attracted to the University through financial aid. Auxiliaries pay an administrative service charge to the University, but this charge does not recognize the cost of financial aid. Some fair share of the University's financial aid investment can appropriately be recovered from these auxiliaries.
Conditions: On the basis of a preliminary analysis, projecting the cost of financial aid on auxiliary earnings, it seems that the auxiliaries pay very little of the common costs of supporting students at the University. Further work must be done to determine if imposing these costs is feasible.
Strategies: Consider further information in a subsequent meeting of the Planning Council, and forward a recommendation on this subject (in January).
Projected Outcomes: In this case, a projection must wait until further preliminary work is done.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: Fewer staff are needed in the Department of Parking Services during the summer than during the academic year.
Conditions: Until the University offers more extensive summer programming, it should be possible to reduce staff in the summer in proportion to campus activities.
Strategies: Reduce one or two operating staff positions in Parking Services to percent time or hourly appointments.
Projected Outcomes: Reduction in hours and elimination of benefits for employees would yield an estimated savings of at least $7,000.
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Rationale: The University has always been heavily dependent on tuition for operating budgets. Tuition rates have always been high at UNH, compared to those at other public colleges and universities regionally and nationally. In recent years, Trustees have resisted increases in in-state tuition, and the University is in jeopardy of losing out-of-state enrollments with further increases in out-of-state tuition. To increase tuition revenue and recover a greater portion of University costs will require certain changes in the structure of tuition.
Strategies: Establish differential tuition for high cost programs, and augment differential tuition where it already exists (in CEPS and WSBE), according to differences in costs of education. Discount appropriately for financial aid. Insofar as possible, eliminate or incorporate into the tuition differential those course fees levied on student majors. Allocate these new tuition dollars to the school and college units, to support operational expenses. From year to year, increment differential tuition by the same percentage increase as base tuition. Bring the tuition of UNHM to the level of that for the rest of the University as facilities and services justify the increase (see recommendation below). Encourage "package pricing" for academic programs, on the model of applied masters-level programs.
Projected Outcomes: Although no benefit to the University as such is projected from differential tuition, the recovery of costs at the level of the schools and colleges will enable them better to absorb the effects of some of the other recommendations in this report.
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Rationale: The UNH externally supported research program has grown rapidly over the past fifteen years and has now achieved a certain level of maturity. With that maturity comes the renewed opportunity to standardize institutional policies concerning variances in indirect cost charges to grants/contracts. There is also good reason to focus on unrealized opportunities with industrial sponsors of our research.
Conditions: During the critical growth period of our externally supported research program, we occasionally exercised flexibility in the application of indirect cost charges to research programs we wished to stimulate. While such flexibility is still important, those programs that are now mature should be treated in a uniform manner in which full costs are borne by the sponsor of the research. Over the past five years, we have made significant movement in this direction; we now need to complete this objective. Industrial sources provide opportunities to expand our externally funded research programs, especially in light of potential future reductions in federal programs. These opportunities include both individual research contracts and the formation of industrial consortia. It is feasible to increase the indirect cost rate structure for industrial research contracts above that for federal grants and to impose a rate structure for industrial consortia.
Strategies: Phase out existing variances and waivers of indirect costs for successful research programs as the continued research projects enter new funding periods. Some will require time to implement, but this should be complete by FY99. Initiate indirect cost charges for industrial consortia in FY97, but delay increases to the indirect cost rate for industrial projects until FY98 to ensure a solid base of industrial activity, thus making the projected net income a reality. It is recommended that a tiered approach be adopted in which the indirect cost rate applied to industrial contracts reflects the size of the company. Small companies would be charged the least, while large companies would be charged at a rate which is 40-50% above that which is charged for federally supported programs. This is judged to be possible without a deleterious impact on our ability to attract industrial support. The exact rate structure for small and medium sized companies will be determined after an analysis of our industrial support in FY96 and projections for FY97 (the latter year via proposals submitted). In addition, we will need to determine what comparative rate structures exist at other universities competing with us for industrial research contracts. We cannot make accurate forecasts of growth in industrial activity at this time, but such growth is a desirable aspect of our overall research program and should be encouraged by senior administrators.
Projected Outcomes. Elimination of variances/waivers of indirect costs for successful and mature research programs will net $50,000 annually beginning in FY98. This will require some of our researchers to restructure their grant and contract budgets, and may in fact result in the loss of some research funding. Beginning in FY97 new indirect cost revenues from industrial consortia will net $40,000 annually. This resource will result from consortia already in existence, and additional net revenue would accrue with any expansion of this activity.
Beginning in FY98 the indirect cost rate for industrial research contracts with large companies should be increased to 1.4-1.5 times the rate for federal government grants and contracts. Somewhat lower rates should be applied to smaller companies. At the present level of industrial activity, this rate change will increase net revenue. The projected net revenue is as follows: $40,000 in FY97, $50,000 in FY98, and $75,000 in FY99.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: The Browne Center program director's responsibilities are to manage programs at the Center. Besides subsidizing academic programs in the outdoor education option in the Department of Kinesiology, the center also provides programs to clients outside of the University. There is the opportunity to raise revenue from those clients to fully support the operating and administrative costs of the Center.
Conditions: The Center currently does not operate during the winter months due to lack of heated facilities. With the addition of heated facilities, year round programs can generate additional revenue. (Center income for FY95 was about $250,000.) Two faculty members (the Director of IPSSR and the Coordinator of the Outdoor Education Program in the Department of Kinesiology) have successfully raised funds for both buildings and operations, and have plans for the needed facility expansion.
Strategies: The Browne Center director's salary is currently split with 50% coming from IPSSR's Fund l000 and 50% from the Browne Center. The Browne Center director's duties, academic and external, are meant to be exclusively with the Browne Center as it expands. Browne Center revenue by FY99 will cover the full 100% of the Browne Center director's salary.
Projected Outcome: The Browne Center director will be paid 100% from those funds generated by Browne Center activities and responsibilities. The total projected savings is $20,000 beginning in FY99.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: A variety of indicators suggest that UNH fund-raising activities through the Foundation provide much less money than the average of our peers, and our alumni participation rates are relatively low, declining from FY94 to FY95. Special appropriations and allocations totaling $700,000/year are scheduled to cease June 30, 1996. Efforts are underway to impose fees on endowment and all gifts for current use that will compensate for the loss of this support. However, there is no assurance these alternatives will be fully implemented by FY97.
Conditions: The volunteer boards of the Alumni Association and the UNH Foundation involve many extremely talented individuals that are dedicated to the interests of the University. This process of restructuring must be carried out in a way that draws on their wisdom and enhances their ultimate role in defining and accomplishing the strategic goals of the University. The duplication of accounting functions within the Elliott Center combined with deficiencies in finance, technology, and coordination offers opportunities for synergy and enhanced efficiency.
Strategies: The UNH President should collaborate with the boards of the Alumni Association and the UNH Foundation to constitute a committee that will fundamentally reexamine the personnel, procedures, policies and technologies involved in alumni services, research, accounting, publishing, investing, campus relations, and internal management. The charter of the committee should be to develop by December 15, 1995, a new organizational structure that unified the operations of the two distinct entities now housed in the Elliott Alumni Center while enhancing the role of the UNH Foundation and its board as the central agent for raising endowment and large gifts.
Projected Outcomes: It should be possible to increase the funds raised and the alumni involved on behalf of UNH while eliminating the dependence of the Elliott Center staff on Fund 1000. A reasonable goal for this activity is $100,000 in FY97. The President is meanwhile pursuing the subject of fund-raising independently, though a specially appointed committee.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Conditions: Currently the University pays $94,774 (from all funds) in advertising costs for vacant positions. The cost is broken down as follows:
# of Jobs Advertising Cost
Faculty 52 $36,105.02
PAT 80 47,760.55
OS 23 1,752.56
Hourly/Temp 54 6,265.69
Generic 9 2,890.80
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Total 218 $94,774.62
Strategies: The use of block ads for advertising,
could save dollars for the University and the hiring departments and
would be in keeping with all Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity
regulations. It is recommended that block ads be handled through the
Personnel Office and the cost be split by the hiring departments.
Advertisements for PAT and Operating Staff positions could be handled
every two weeks or on a monthly basis. Faculty block ads
(not
required) could be done at the beginning of each semester in
the
Chronicle, Fosters,
Union Leader, and Globe.
In addition, it is
recommended that the Personnel Office work with local newspapers to
explore the possibility of negotiating rates and standardizing the
format of advertisements. The Internet should also be used as a
vehicle to guarantee coverage for these positions.
Projected Outcomes: The Personnel Office provides up to $150 for each position advertised. The current budget in the Personnel Office is $8,000. It is recommended that the Personnel Office budget be cut by $8,000. Currently, PAT's must give a 30 day notice and Operating Staff must give a 2 week notice. If advertisements are done every two weeks, there should be no adverse affect for PAT positions but there may be a hardship for Operating Staff positions.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: Although this type of communication is essential to communication with major University constituencies, full funding for this project (approximately $250,000 yearly) seems impossible.
Conditions: When initiated, this project had a budget in excess of $190,000. The President's office was to provide the rest of the funds. It is unfortunate that a significant level of effort was expended to progress as far as having a mock-up of the first issue. However, the reality of our current budget is that a sufficient funding level to support this on an annual basis is simply not available.
Strategies: Remove the Magazine from the annual budget. Should funds become available, publication of a magazine should be made a priority.
Projected Outcomes: Budget dollars of approximately $34,530 annually can be returned to Fund 1000.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: An important element of the mission of a public university is outreach and access on the part of the resident population as a whole. Consistent with this mission, it is in the financial interest of the University to increase DCE enrollments of both traditional and non-traditional students in both part-time and AA programs. Further, as Summer School is now budgeted in DCE, a first step in increasing Summer School enrollments and making better use of the physical campus in Durham year-round is somewhat to centralize the control of summer offerings and scheduling in DCE. Another step is to identify undergraduate as well as graduate programs which can be packaged on a year-round basis (certain professional degree and certification programs are already offered successfully on their own continuous calendars). Ultimately, it may be possible to evolve a full summer semester and the teaching of DCE and summer courses in-load.
Conditions: The Division of Continuing Education is firmly established in the structure of the University. While enrollments are substantial during the regular academic year and summer, increases can reasonably be expected if conditions for DCE students are changed and if a greater degree of control over summer offerings is centralized in DCE administration.
Strategies: Increase the incentives to departments and to schools and colleges for summer school and DCE teaching, so as to increase enrollments, beginning with summer school. Reconvene the specially appointed committee on summer school to develop a plan by the end of the current academic year for expansion toward a summer semester. Centralize the scheduling first of summer offerings and eventually of fall and spring offerings, so that DCE students have easier access year-round.
Projected Outcomes: To keep incentive for cooperation in these plans high, the present arrangement of returning portions of generated DCE and Summer School income to the operating units will continue as enrollments expand. This will be another way to ameliorate the effects of other recommendations in this report.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: Financial aid funding can be conserved and value can be recovered from the cost of financial aid if the University develops its own workstudy program on the model of the federal workstudy program.
Conditions: Federal funding for workstudy has diminished in recent years, even as University grants have grown to compensate for the loss of federal support. It should be possible to displace some University grants in financial aid packaging with a larger component of workstudy, funded by the University.
Strategies: With the help of the Financial Aid Office, develop a model for this program which allows a projection of savings.
Projected Outcomes: Although the potential gain from this new program seems substantial, no savings are posted pending further study.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: While faculty workload is a sensitive subject for debate, it appears that the distribution of teaching loads is not always proportional to the level of research and scholarship activity performed by a faculty member.
Conditions: Reduced teaching loads for the purpose of enabling research and scholarship represent a major investment of general funds. During this time of institutional introspection it would serve the University well to examine the distribution of faculty effort and to institute regular assessments of such.
Strategies: Those faculty members with reduced teaching loads who, over an extended period, are not productively involved in research and scholarship, should be expected to increase teaching, administrative, or service responsibilities. It should be clear that obtaining grant funding is not the only criterion for productivity; rather the quality and quantity of publications, performance, projects, etc., should also be key indicators considered during faculty evaluations. Some faculty members may prefer to emphasize their teaching, with a large portion of their workload dedicated to such; others active in research or outreach might warrant a lighter course load as they dedicate themselves to scholarship or service. Such flexible distribution of effort, consistent with the goals and objectives of an academic department, could lead to more productive use of faculty time and talent.
Projected Outcomes: The gain in resource effected by this recommendation, while potentially significant University-wide, would be realized at the academic department level.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: The University is subject to fluctuations in the pools of available students, undergraduate and graduate, in-state and out-of-state. Because the University is so heavily dependent on tuition for operating budgets, a realistic and comprehensive enrollment plan is a necessary foundation for other plans. Any such planning should be predicated on a clear sense of the distinctive mission of the University. Short-term enrollment strategies should be informed by long-term goals.
Conditions: In the early nineties, with the goal of growing tuition revenue, the University invested heavily in financial aid, especially for out-of-state students, whose tuition rates are high. Indeed, in a competitive market for out-of-state students, the University provides increasing tuition discounts in order to sustain undergraduate numbers and quality. But the yield on offers of admission to out-of-state students continues to decline. Many trustees are firm in the view that in-state tuition should rise no faster than the rate of inflation in the future; at the same time, out-of-state applications are expected to rise steadily over the next decade. In the context of meeting the needs of the state into the future, UNH-Durham can contribute most by fulfilling its distinctive role as a public research university, offering a wide array of subject specialties and emphasizing advance undergraduate and graduate levels of instruction.
Strategies: Assess capacities at the program level across the University. Target specific undergraduate and graduate programs for growth, even as others are restricted, consolidated, and eliminated. Maintain the present proportions of in-state and out-of-state students. Assuming the current Institutional Research projections of enrollment trends (an important element of the projected deficit), increase projected totals of undergraduate students by 400 over three years and by 800 over ten years, targeting in-state and out-of-state transfer students. Increase the total number of graduate students in selected programs by 240 in three years and 400 in ten years. Centralize the scheduling of undergraduate classes (allowing for graduate course time and room demands), so as to take full advantage of teaching space on campus and to accommodate students needing classes spread across the day and week. Afford students opportunities to complete academic programs on a year-round schedule; begin with popular professional programs, on the model of applied masters-level programs. Expand (self-financing) on-campus housing to attract undergraduate students interested in residential campus life. Articulate transfer agreements with public and private colleges state and region-wide, including New Hampshire technical colleges as they develop transfer degrees; target transfer students to programs with capacity through specific agreements (1+3, 2+2). Specifically, designate the Dean of the Division of Continuing Education to lead the development of transfer associate degrees from New Hampshire technical colleges (involve the deans of the professional schools as necessary, from the standpoint of accreditation requirements). Recruit more heavily at undergraduate as well as graduate levels in the international market, necessarily first expanding instruction in ESL and improving support for international students and scholars. Tie career planning and placement with advising, orientation, and even recruitment of undergraduates. "Preferentially package" financial aid according to the capacities of individual academic programs. Provide additional scholarship support to truly superior undergraduates. Expressly include UNH-Manchester in University enrollment planning as a strategy for improving access to the University and to the Durham campus by transfer; expand articulation agreements on the model of the engineering 1+3.
Further involve faculty in those programs targeted for enrollment growth in recruitment efforts. Develop distance learning capabilities (such as ITV) to the extent that their costs can be justified by their value to academic programs.
Projected Outcomes: This recommendation will need to be integrated in several respects (financial aid, student life, student services) with other recommendations in this report. To be as prudent as possible about what to count on in the way of revenues, two kinds of targets for expanded enrollments have been identified: programs for which demand is demonstrated, such that caps on enrollments now exist and investments are required to increase capacity, and programs for which capacity exists and investments are required to recruit new students. Projected new revenues are further discounted by new instructional costs. The following estimates are conservative, assuming only 25% out-of-state students among new undergraduates (vs. the 40% overall proportion of the student body) and assuming the present average payback per student in financial aid. At the graduate level, projections about individual established programs have been based on demonstrated demand, and the costs of the requisite number of graduate tuition scholarships has been deducted; for new programs, projected enrollments are summed, and in the case of self-supporting programs, only the University share of tuition has been counted.
FY97: 50 undergraduate students in programs with demonstrated demand
(COLSA and HHS only):
$301,750 in new tuition revenue
-58,350 in new financial aid
-50,000 in new instructional costs
--------
$193,400
115 graduate students (University dividend only):
$137,613
TOTAL: $331,013 (continuing)
FY98: 125 undergraduate students in programs with demonstrated demand
or capacity:
$751,075 in new tuition revenue
-145,875 in new financial aid
-125,000 in new instructional costs
--------
$480,200
65 graduate students (University dividend only):
$107,524
TOTAL: $587,724 (continuing)
FY99: 175 undergraduate students in programs with demonstrated demand
or capacity:
$1,051,505 in new tuition revenue
-204,225 in new financial aid
-175,000 in new instructional costs
----------
$672,280
60 graduate students (University dividend only):
$86,674
TOTAL: $758,954 (continuing)
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: System Management and Operations provides central printing services at Kingsbury Hall. Some of these print jobs could be printed on users local printers, which would provide instant access to reports and reduce the number of printouts delivered by Computing and Information Services. Therefore, we should promote remote printing where cost effective and feasible. We should investigate the use of UNH Mail Services instead of using a separate CIS truck to deliver central print jobs.
Conditions: The person currently driving the CIS truck part-time also performs a few other tasks, like scanning pickups and delivery, which would have to be eliminated or transferred.
Strategies: Eliminate this function and the associated part-time labor.
Projected Outcomes: This change would eliminate a part-time position and save $9,886. Impact for Mail Services would be an increased work load, including an additional run to Kingsbury and extra sorting. Impact to UNH departments would be deliveries of printouts occurring later in the day than they are currently.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: Expenditures of the Fund 1000 financial aid budget are of two kinds: real dollar costs and tuition discounts. "Real dollar costs" are granted in the form of scholarships which are applied to room and board, books, and living expenses. "Tuition discounts," which are in the form of tuition waivers, do not involve an actual award of money. Therefore, it is not accurate to view "discounts" as a cost of cash resources, but it likewise is inaccurate to say that discounts represent no cost to UNH. A more accurate assessment is that "discounts" or tuition waivers are an "opportunity cost". When a discount is given, it is important to determine if the discount is too large or too small for the desired results of attracting students to the institution and realizing revenues from other expenses paid by the student as costs of attending (i.e., room, board, books, balance of non-discounted tuition). Although tuition waivers do not represent "real dollars," they do have value. While removing tuition waivers from the financial aid budget does not result in any substantial net savings or net revenue, if waivers are shifted from one use to a "better" use, then real savings or real revenue can be realized. For instance, one way to use waivers to generate revenues is to use partial waivers to recruit students into under-enrolled academic departments. In this way more revenue is collected with relatively small extra expense.
Conditions: Fund 1000 tuition waivers currently are used to recruit talented students whose enrollments contribute positively to campus diversity and honors, athletic, music and graduate programs at UNH. The variety of applications is described in detail in the Student Services Task Force report (see the report).
Strategies:
Projected Outcomes: This is a complex recommendation with many separate parts. The Planning Council takes the view that Deans' and Endeavor Scholarships are tools for recruitment and that no savings from these scholarships should be posted independent of the goal for increased enrollments. About the Enrichment Scholarships, there will be an additional investment in the program for one more year at $120,000, followed by two years of savings at $130,000 per year. The recommendation on athletics scholarships is contingent on outside approval, and no numbers are posted.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: This cost can be made without limiting this academic program too much.
Conditions: The program remains popular, so cuts must not impact hours of operation. We can replace equipment on a less frequent basis, but will not compromise service on treadmills, rowing machines, etc.
Strategies: See if corporate donations can off-set these loses.
Projected Outcomes: A reduction of $1000 in each of FY97, 98, and 99.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: A comparison of the University's operation with the outside market may show that it would be more cost effective to outsource this operation.
Conditions: The quality of this operation is not at issue. The prospect of saving cost and recovering space is worth considering.
Strategies: Solicit competitive bids for vehicle maintenance from outside vendors. If it is proven that outsourcing would be cost effective, there are potential savings to be realized. Reconvene the Planning Council to determine whether to proceed.
Projected Outcomes: If outsourced, the garage may yield the following savings:
Reduce Staff by 7 FTES (including fringe) $242,319
Sell Existing Inventory to Vendor 113,000
Lease UNH Space to Vendor 42,126
Less Cost of Contract to Vendor
The cost recovery may be difficult to realize at the central University level. No central savings are posted at this time.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: In FY95, the University received $100,000 from the current late fee of $50. Obviously, this fee is not significantly large enough to act as a deterrent. Thus, tuition is not received in a timely fashion, and the University looses short-term investment income. In addition, late deposits affects our ability to accurately predict headcounts and tuition revenues. An increase in the fee should positively affect these counts.
Conditions: Processing late paperwork means extra work for our Business Services staff. The assumption is that the current late fee is too low to act as an effective deterrent against paying tuition in a timely manner.
Strategies: A review should be undertaken with comparable institutions to determine the current average late fee charged for tuition payments. The University's fee should be increased to at least the market average.
Projected Outcomes: It is anticipated that, at a minimum, the fee should at least double in size from $50 to $100. This increase should be become effective in FY97. Doubling the fee does not necessarily mean doubling the revenue. Two issues should be taken into consideration. First, the late fee is a deterrent, and as such, if the fee is raised the number of people paying their tuition late should decrease. Second, tuition revenues are invested in the USNH short-term investment income fund. A distribution formula is then used to provide each campus with a share of this revenue. Conservatively, we estimate this will cause an increase in revenue of an additional $50,000.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: Increased revenues from charging for career services is logical based on precedent (many other institutions do this) and need to cover costs. While it seems best to offer these services at no cost to recently graduated individuals, there is a time when consideration of the services in comparison to private services of a similar nature is reasonable.
Conditions: The majority of career counseling interactions with alumni is confined to recently graduated persons. However, approximately one-third of alumni contacts are presently for those who have been away from UNH for one year or longer. Many alumni using Career Services at present are those changing careers. Many colleges and universities charge alumni for career services.
Strategies: Charge those who have been alumni for one year and who wish to use Career Services an annual fee of $25.00.
Projected Outcomes: Career Services' budget may be offset by increased revenues of $2500 in FY98. (This figure is based on an average annual fee for such services of $25.00 and estimating 100 alumni purchasing these services by the second year of implementation.)
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: A reorganization of the Affirmative Action, Women's Commission, ACCESS, and SHARPP functions to one location, all reporting to one administrator could result in improved communication, coordination and shared resources to improve efficiency.
Conditions: Currently the Office of Affirmative Action and ACCESS are connected organizationally, but they are in separate locations. The Women's Commission and SHARPP operate independently from one another and from Affirmative Action and ACCESS. It is unclear that the functions of these offices are compatible and could function more effectively and efficiently if placed in one location. However, a thorough analysis of this suggestion would determine if efficiency could be improved without a decline in the quality of service provided.
Strategies: The Office of Affirmative Action and the Women's Commission are in a period of transition. A report is due from the Women's Commission Task Force on the future of the Women's Commission and the Office of Affirmative Action and its functions/responsibilities will be evaluated over the next 12-18 months. A small group of individuals should be charged to study how to consolidate and reduce costs. The staff of the offices involved, the Director of Affirmative Action, and Members of the Senate Affirmative Action Committee should be members of this group. This group should provide a report to the President of the University by January 1, 1997. If approved by the President, the plan would be effective on July 1, 1997.
Projected Outcomes: Substantial savings could be realized through consolidation and shared resources of functions logically grouped and located in one place.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: Funding for the International Seminar Series has been provided by the Office of Academic Affairs on a year-to-year-basis, in the expectation that private funds would be found to replace this support.
Conditions: This series is of high quality and is well attended, but only a small portion of its funding (sponsoring a single lecture) has been achieved to date.
Strategies: Encourage and support fundraising efforts in the Center for International Education.
Projected Outcomes: Private support will replace $10,000 in Fund 1000 support by FY'98.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: The Electronic Campus is a valuable asset to the University community and consists of the following: people who create and use information (faculty, researchers, students, administrators, and staff); physical infrastructure (fiber optic wire) to carry the information; computing resources to access and process the information; people who support the community's use of information (librarians). The objective of this proposal is to complete a network-based system that will provide access to every member of the University community and enable electronic exchange of information across the campus and the globe. This capability is a prerequisite for many of the other recommendations in this report.
Conditions: As noted in "The Electronic Campus: An Academic Plan for Information Technology," the evolutional shift in information delivery systems to one that is networked-based, and the reality of smaller institutional budgets to meet growing needs challenges the University community to come together to plan for the information infrastructure that is the future of technology at UNH. With the establishment of an Electronic Campus as the ultimate goal, the University community can make collaborative decisions now that will facilitate the realization of that ideal for the future.
Strategies: Install ethernet network connections in every faculty office and every classroom by September of 1997; install ethernet network connections in every academic and administrative office by September of 1998; upgrade the campus backbone and specific building infrastructure to enable large volumes of electronic traffic on the network. A plan has been developed using a combination of funds from a recovering debt service and a loan service made possible through the MIS 3-5 Year Long Range Plan for Technology that would allow the development of such a structure to be put in place with no capital expense to the University's central operating budget.
Projected Outcomes: The large investment made by Telecommunications and Computing and Information Services will cover the costs to put this infrastructure in place. Financial challenges will remain for the institution including: the cost of putting appropriate technology into the hands of the community (computers for faculty desks, for example); the monthly charge for data connection service (estimated at approximately $11 per month per connection). This plan would allow for every member of the community to be connected by the start of the fall semester in 1998. In addition, by the end of the year 2001, the total infrastructure would be in place to allow for large volume traffic to be exchanged over the network from anywhere on campus or across the globe.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: What started out as a service to students who were being housed outside of Durham has turned into a regional transportation authority. UNH should continue to support service to students.
Conditions: At present, there is simply no good reason for UNH to continue to operate the COAST/Karivan system when a private carrier in the transportation industry could do the job and UNH could contract for just those services needed by the University community. Parking fee and meter revenue that currently support Karivan would be better spent covering the costs of parking services.
Strategies: Initiate the bidding process for the COAST/Karivan operation. Contract with new carrier for maintenance of UNH routes. Student fees currently paid to Karivan could continue to be used in that way or could go toward a reduction of fund 1000 costs for the campus shuttle. It is the planning council's understanding that special services, such as transportation for disabled students, faculty, and staff would continue at their present levels.
Projected Outcomes: Possible elimination of one mechanic's position. Overall savings are estimated to be $250,000 in FY97.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: In the administration areas of Computing and Information Services, a consolidation of common administrative functions (i.e., personnel processing, accounts payable, etc.) would reduce costs.
Conditions: Administrative consolidation is possible in this area.
Strategies: Reduction in staff by one FTES in administrative personnel (salary and benefits).
Projected Outcomes: Savings is $47,250. Impact could be significant on separate business units. CIS will need to work to minimize business impact to auxiliaries within the department.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: These broadsides use operating funds, departmental personnel staff and central mail services resources to produce and distribute information. This campus has an extraordinary dependence upon these types of notices. The Campus Journal is an existing vehicle with an existing distribution mechanism printed in the least expensive manner. Possible ways to incorporate additional information in the Campus Journal should be explored to determine the feasibility of expansion and the resources needed to support it.
Conditions: To be truly effective, management would have to prohibit the use of broadsides and encourage the use of this publication as the medium for broad based publications.
Strategies: Some amount of additional funding would be required to provide the necessary space in the Campus Journal. It is not possible to publish less than the four pages so full use of any additional space would be essential.
Projected Outcomes: This suggestion does not contribute funds toward the central deficit, as the current expenditures are now distributed campus wide and would be difficult to recover. However, it makes good managerial sense, and would return some resources to departmental budgets.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: Access to up-to-date computing technology as a part of the University's total instructional experience is critical for students to gain exposure to the latest technology that they will encounter when they enter the work place. A technology fee would provide the base funding necessary to upgrade and maintain necessary resources and services.
Conditions: It is proposed that a fee be considered to make a new level of technological support available to all students. Keene State College and Plymouth State College already have technology fees in effect for this purpose. KSC charges $134/year and PSC charges $200.
Strategies: Announce a series of open meetings to inform the student population and relevant student governance groups the impact and benefits that a specifically targeted technology fee would have on current and future instructional technology resources. Create an advisory committee consisting of faculty, students, and CIS technical support staff to develop spending plans and oversee expenditures to meet stated goals. Prepare projected budget to identify how funds would be allocated when applied. Couple technology fee spending plans with existing campus infrastructure development plans to enhance combined impact on instructional services.
Projected Outcomes: The University can expect improved facilities and programs in support of access to computing technology resources and instructional support programs. Such a fee should not be used to replace present Fund 1000 support of the computer clusters but rather to make a new level of service to the instructional community possible.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: Students in Family Studies require laboratory training in early childhood education to achieve their academic goals and to meet community needs for trained child care providers, teachers and administrators of child care/preschool facilities. At the same time, there is a well documented need for affordable, high quality child care facilities for university and community families, with a particularly pressing need for infant care. University facilities are currently meeting those needs to a large extent, but a re-evaluation of the organization of and costs associated with those facilities may be in order in these fiscally strained times.
Conditions: Administrative discussions of the provision of child care services to the University community and of laboratory experience for University students in the subject of child development have a long history, detailed in the Central Support Services Task Force report (see the report).
Strategies: The following strategies geared toward maintenance of program quality and reduction of fund 1000 costs:
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: Many offices and people carry some responsibility for recruiting and retaining minority students. The importance of these collective efforts to the University makes it essential that the effort be well supported, properly recognized and clearly articulated both within and outside the University community.
Conditions: Minority recruitment and retention is done as a function of the Office of the Provost. Admissions has a primary role in recruiting these students. The Athletic Department also is involved in recruiting minority students for its program. Music education along with other departments also participates in recruitment. The Office of Multicultural Student Affairs, which is a Student Affairs unit, has focused primarily on the retention of minority students through its programs and services. It is apparent that many people are expending considerable energy toward the recruitment and retention of minority students. Despite excellent work in all areas, some of these efforts may be occurring as separate functions, without full coordination. After students are admitted and on campus, their college experiences may not be supported by the institution in as many ways as they could be. Many consider transferring to another institution shortly after arriving at UNH, citing financial and personal concerns as their reasons. Many refer generally to a campus environment or climate that does not offer adequate support to them.
Strategies: The Coordinator of Minority Recruitment and Retention, the Director of the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs, the Director of Admissions, the Directors of Women's and Men's Athletics and others should discuss recruitment and retention of minority students for the purpose of identifying good ways to improve the support of these students. The University should consider producing a single publication that defines and describes programs and services that support the college experiences of minority students. The University should also assess the retention rates of minority students for the last several years and consider setting goals for a retention rate for minority students.
Projected Outcomes: This effort is not expected to net monetary savings per se, but an effort that is more visible to the University and outside communities may result in greater recognition of current efforts as well as a clearer understanding of ways to expand support and retain this UNH cohort.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: The distribution of graduate teaching assistantships (TA's) is also uneven. In some cases TA's are used primarily for research rather than teaching. This can create a disincentive for some faculty to pursue external research funding, relying instead on institutional or PAU supported TA's. Also, the graduate student tuition charges made to external grants and contracts have been maintained at resident undergraduate tuition rates.
The rate of growth in the total amount of grants and contracts has slowed in the past few years, indicating that UNH has reached a certain level of maturity in this area. With the current level of external support at slightly over $40 million per year, it would appear that an increase in the number of RA's should be possible. Such a development would both enrich our graduate program and generate additional tuition revenue.
Conditions: The distribution of TA's across the programs and departments of UNH does not appear to be closely tied to the undergraduate teaching loads of those units. This results in reduced teaching loads for TA's in some departments while they engage in research activities. This constitutes a fund 1000 subsidization of research in some departments, while faculty in other units must support their research assistants solely through external grants. A number of departments with a large ratio of TA's to undergraduate credit hours also have a low level of external support and/or a low ratio of RA's to grant funds. Each TA costs about $9,000 annually and each RA yields $4,000 in tuition (at the present rate) and between $0 and $4,185 in indirect costs, depending on the nature of the grant and the funding agency.
In FY95 there were approximately 145 graduate students serving as grant funded research assistants at UNH. The funds to support these students came from the over $40 million per year in research awards won in the competitive arena by our faculty. Of these 145 students, approximately one half of them paid full, resident tuition while the other half paid continuation fees only. All of these charges were made to grants and contracts. There is great disparity among the various departments in the ratio of external awards to supported graduate students, and it appeared to the task force that the total number of graduate research assistants is insufficient, given the volume of awards received each year.
Strategies:
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: This program represents a specialty service which cannot continue to claim Fund 1000 support during these difficult financial times.
Conditions: This program functions as a referral service to staff and students. No actual child care is provided.
Strategies: A similar service is provided by the State and is available to all citizens, including our UNH staff and students.
Projected Outcomes: Closing this program will result in a savings to Fund 1000 in the amount of $32,747.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: UNH-Manchester has a twofold mission: to serve place-bound students in the Manchester area with selected undergraduate and graduate programs, and to provide transfer programs to academic majors on the Durham campus. The present array of UNHM degree programs is adequate for present and near-term student need and demand. In light of the expected increase in the number of in-state undergraduate students, UNHM should expand its capacity to prepare traditional students for transfer into majors on the Durham campus. Planning to meet the needs of these students is a matter for both the College and the University. This will require a closer relationship, in many cases, between faculty and staff in Manchester and Durham. On the basis of closer working relationships, it should be possible to share certain administrative costs.
Conditions: The recent report of the visiting team from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges recommended a closer relationship between UNHM and the University. Current enrollment planning for the University as a whole is built on affirming the distinctive missions of both the Durham and Manchester campuses. Looking forward to increasing numbers of in-state students, we see a capacity in Manchester and not in Durham for the University to accept greater numbers of beginning students and to provide the academic support services they need. At the same time, what has been achieved over the last phase of development at UNHM--degree programs at both undergraduate and graduate levels--must be protected, if these programs continue to be justified by demand and can sustain quality. Such a plan will require more adequate facilities in Manchester and tuition revenue on a par with the base rate in Durham.
Strategies: Consider incorporating the UNH-Manchester (Fund 1050) and UNH-Durham (Fund 1000) accounts. Consider strengthening relationships between academic departments and offices in Durham with counterparts in Manchester. Where possible, combine operations and share costs between Manchester and Durham.
Increase tuition (but not mandatory fees) at UNHM to the base level of the University at Durham.
Projected Outcomes: An increase in tuition income at UNHM will provide greater financial stability. If this enrollment strategy is accepted, UNHM may have a claim on Trustee support for the consolidation and development of adequate facilities as in-state enrollment pressure builds. Cost sharing and perhaps a greater degree of cross-teaching between Manchester and Durham could possibly save $75,000 in continuing costs in both FY'98 and FY99. Further reductions may be possible if the separate PAU's are combined.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: Software vendor will only supply upgrades that employ graphical user interface. To continue to use Banner, workstations will have to be replaced with desktop computers.
Conditions: Many critical Banner users employ workstation rather than desktop computers.
Strategies: A plan must be made that utilizes existing hardware resources as possible and thereby minimizes costs. The training aspect of such a plan must be considered closely.
Projected Outcomes: A plan should be developed and reported to the Planning Council by February 1.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: Despite the need to recover Fund 1000 support from programs across the University, in certain instances small amounts of support are justified by the University mission.
Conditions: Review of the expenditure patterns of these programs revealed the small amounts of indirect cost revenue provided to TRIO and SBDC were very important components of their core programs. SBDC uses these funds to match federal funds, which is a continuing challenge in these days of reduced funding.
Strategies: The Planning Council recommends no changes to the Fund 1000 appropriations for TRIO and SBDC.
Projected Outcomes: These programs would continue with University support.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: UNH Mail Services delivers a large amount of mail all over campus. In an effort to reduce some of this volume, we should promote the reduction of campus-wide mailings (i.e., retirement parties, event promotions, etc.) and support the electronic transmission of this information (i.e., UNHINFO). We should look at reducing deliveries to some areas of campus from twice per day to once per day.
Conditions: Mail Services currently delivers twice per day to about 95% of the buildings on campus. A reduction would save a percentage of a position.
Strategies: Reduce one driver's position by 50%.
Projected Outcomes/Consequences: This percentage reduction would save $11,475. Mail delivery to individual departments would be reduced and possibly delayed.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: Providing successful student services is partly a function of: (1) how well informed students are about their academic record and requirements, and about campus resources; (2) how easily students can access that information; and (3) how efficiently that information is used in making choices about the student's program of study at UNH. Surveys of alumni from UNH and other institutions indicate that students who assess their experiences in these areas as positive are likely to value their time at their university well after they graduate. These are the alumni who support the university with their giving and by recommending the university to prospective applicants. Experiences at other institutions (e.g., The University of Delaware) indicate that high quality, successful student support services can be provided at significant savings, compared to the way UNH currently does its business.
The process for providing administrative services to students should be redesigned to be more effective and to ensure that the service is consistently excellent. This calls for the creation of a student service center where students can transact all of their administrative business and where the core student service department personnel are located. It also calls for giving students electronic access to student information and the capability to transact their business electronically.
By implementing the concept of an Integrated Student Service Center (ISSC), UNH can achieve significant savings in the cost of providing student administrative services, substantially improve the quality of these services and make it easy for students to do business with UNH. The idea is to 1) provide a multiplicity of student services from a single physical location on the UNH campus and 2) give students electronic access to student information and 3) give students the capability to carry out their business electronically.
Services delivered at the ISSC would include: financial aid, billing, registrar, collections, cashiering, dining service plans, ID cards, parking, telecom, etc. At a minimum, the departments responsible for the major components of student administrative services would be permanently situated at the ISSC, namely, Financial Aid, Registrar, Business Services and the ID Office. Examples of electronic access and business capability include: viewing and printing class schedule, requesting refund of credit balance on student account, notification of lost student ID, and checking financial aid processing status. Students would be served by "generalists" who are assisted by specialists from the area of the students question. Students would be served by a single person, or sometimes by information at a terminal that the student accesses him(her) self. The idea is based on a center already in place at the University of Delaware (see Appendix Two for the University of Delaware white paper, "Reengineering Administrative Partnerships"). This concept would maximize the use of plentiful and no-cost labor to serve students, namely the students themselves. The goal over the long term is to expand electronic access and capability so students can accomplish all administrative business electronically and the ISSC can be reduced to a minimum staffing level.
Conditions: The existing process for providing the various administrative services that UNH students require (e.g., registration, paying bills, finding out about financial aid) is inefficient and the quality of the services delivered varies widely. Students must visit the separate location of each department to handle their business one step at a time. Sometimes this means waiting in lines at each step in the process. Certain student transactions may involve several steps, each with a different department. Speedy completion of these transactions necessitates a high degree of coordination between these departments which often is impossible, given the multiple locations, the heavy reliance on "paperwork" processing instead of electronic processing, the lack of a single fully integrated database of student information accessible by these departments, differing missions/charters that drive these departments and different levels of commitment to quality customer service in each department. Often the result is that students must return at a later time to complete their business which means that time has been wasted-student time and staff time. Students become confused because the process is unclear and UNH is not easy to do business with.
Strategies:
Implement an Integrated Student Services Center (ISSC) through which UNH would provide a multiplicity of student services from a single physical location on the UNH campus. Services delivered at the ISSC would include: financial aid, billing, registration, academic record access and obtaining I.D.'s. It may be efficient to include representatives from other units at the ISSC (e.g., DCE or dining). This center would be staffed by generalists, who would be the primary contact for students. The generalists would be backed up with specialists, who would advise generalists and who would see students who have unique problems.
Give students electronic access to student information and the capability to carry out their business electronically via computer terminals. Independent of staff help, students should be able to view and print their class schedule, request refunds of credit balances on their accounts, notify the university of a lost ID, check financial aid processing status, request and receive transcripts, and a host of other student support service activities. Experience at the University of Delaware indicates that in 4 out of 5 student support needs, students can serve themselves, thus reducing considerably staff support time.
Identify building space. Space needs to be of adequate size to accommodate the staffs of the core student service departments and provide for an open bank-like setting for serving students. Location should be one of easy access for students and convenient to reach from center campus.
A critical success factor for the ISSC is that there be a single, integrated student information system to permit easy cross-functional access to student information by the core student service departments. A project is currently underway to move Financial Aid off their stand alone SAM and LAPS systems to the BANNER system. This will be implemented in Jan. 1997 and will be used in student processing for the Fall '97 semester. It will mean that Registrar, Business Services, Financial Aid, and Admissions are on a single system and database. This change will essentially satisfy the single, integrated student information system requirement for the ISSC. Implement other technologies to increase productivity, such as imaging, expanded voice response to touchstone, world-wide web and other information access tools.
Assure adequate network capacity and information systems development/maintenance support. Requirements of the ISSC and student information access and student transaction processing need to be supported as the system expands. Provide support for further information systems development in order to expand electronic access capability and support the increased demands that ISSC will have on information systems.
Assure UNH Support. A senior level "champion" is needed for this effort. It should be the President. A project team should be established with membership from core student service departments. Short term additional resources should be provided, as needed, until the project is on line. Specialists should be hired or reassigned as needed to complement the expertise of the project team (e.g., building design/layout personnel). An employee transition program should be designed and implemented to assist staff whose positions may be affected by changes introduced by implementing the ISSC. This would provide a clear transition path for employees affected by associated restructuring efforts that may reduce positions. Where possible, it is hoped that reductions can be accomplished through attrition, early retirement, and other programs.
Create a Plan. The project to build and implement the Integrated Student Services Center is proposed to start during Q1 1996. There are three phases to this project: startup, feasibility and planning, and design and implementation. A proposed plan is included in the Student Support Services Task Force report (see report).
Projected Outcomes:
Rationale: Parking fines should be set high enough to act as a deterrent. Part of increased revenue should be dedicated to parking lot maintenance.
Conditions: Parking lot maintenance has not been funded for the last two years.
Strategies: Impose increased parking fines.
Projected Outcomes: Establishing and implementing a new parking fine structure will not yield twice as much in revenue. However, it is anticipated that approximately $100,000 in additional revenue can be realized. It is recommended that this additional revenue be used as follows: $50,000 for lot maintenance and $50,000 as additional revenue to the general fund.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: Appropriately trained and supervised students, in general, offer energetic and helpful service in various areas throughout the University. Examples include functions such as intake interviewer, workshop assistant, and data clerk. Often, cost savings may be realized without a decrease in quality of service when students are employed. Moreover, graduate students, who are frequently professionals returning to further their education, may be employed to deliver service, particularly in front-line areas, in ways that are comparable in quality to professionals.
Conditions: The average salary and benefits for a full-time, entry-level, front-line professional staff member in direct student services functions is about $29,000. Undergraduate students are usually paid $5.00/hour. The cost of a graduate assistantship stipend is $9350. Two twenty-hour graduate students would be necessary to replace one full-time position.
Strategies: Adopt a policy stating that each time a professional staff vacancy occurs, part of the replacement process includes an assessment of whether or not some or all of the duties can reasonably be done by undergraduate students or graduate students.
It would be necessary to give careful thought to the types of opportunities possible for the use of students to replace professional staff. Units where students are currently employed may be asked to provide assessments of the quantity and quality of work done by students, including a projected cost for the services provided if done by professional staff. A goal of maintaining the quality of services provided should be paramount. It is assumed that the head of the unit whose work is affected by this consideration would have the final decision regarding implementation of this concept. Student turnover is greater than staff turnover. Adequate time commitment to a position by a graduate student, especially, but all students as well, would be necessary. A recommended two year obligation may be considered as a baseline for hiring a graduate student.
Projected Outcomes: Once again, specific savings are difficult to predict. However, for example, if the duties from four positions are transferred to eight graduate students, potential cost savings, based on average costs outlined above, would be about $43,000 (projected for FY99). Please note that this is a recommendation for a University-wide policy, and is not intended to be a strategy borne alone by the units under study by this task force. There is no assumption that a tuition waiver is associated with this idea. Instead, this goal refers to the use of graduate students as employees.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: Some UNH units (defined as colleges/schools, departments, areas, institutes, etc.) have been more pro-active in their pursuit of efficient administrative support in the past. Another across-the-board budget cut would further erode the already fragile administrative support of these departments but not cause a ripple in other departments. Therefore, an informed, quantifiable and rational approach based on actual data and consistently applied productivity benchmarks was necessary. Assuming there is a conceptual business model which would reduce costs while optimizing service, control and management information for UNH units, it should be applied to all UNH units, regardless of funding source, current budgetary pressures, and specific dollar targets. The Task Force believes that costs can be reduced and administrative services can be improved or maintained by properly aligning the need for services with consolidated resources of sufficient quantity and quality to allow for economies of scale, pro-active management, flexibility, cross-training, continuous improvement, and teamwork.
Effective internal control systems provide reasonable assurance that assets are safeguarded against loss from unauthorized use or disposition, that transactions are executed in accordance with proper authorization, policy and sound business practice, and that transactions are recorded properly to permit the preparation of accurate and complete financial statements and management analyses for decision-making. Key to effective internal control systems is an organization structure which provides for careful recruitment and training of qualified personnel.
There are too many steps in the current processing of business and personnel transactions. By reducing the number of steps, the University can reduce the resources required to conduct business, increase productivity and improve timeliness of service. However, adequate controls must be maintained and information for decision-making must be enhanced to properly carry out the University's fiduciary responsibilities. Technology can be utilized to a greater extent to help in reducing manual processing steps while at the same time improving the quality of controls and information. But, if the University simply implements technology and reduces processing steps, it will not save one budgeted dollar. To capture budget dollars, the University must first implement sweeping consolidations of business personnel. For example, we expect the technology and process changes proposed herein to increase business productivity by about 20%. If BSCs are implemented, the 20% productivity enhancement could result in the elimination of one in every five business Ftes. However, if the 20% productivity enhancement is applied to the University's current organization of highly decentralized business processing, it would only free up a portion of each person's time to do other things.
Conditions and Assumptions: The current environment for conducting business on the financial administrative system (CUFS) is, on the whole, inefficient and ineffective. There were 551 total USNH active CUFS users who entered 223,000 documents in FY95. 132 users (24%) entered 178,000 (80%) of the documents. The other 419 users entered the other 45,000 documents. The average number of documents processed in FY95 for the top 132 users was 1,348, whereas the average for the other 419 users was 107. Although the number of users and transactions are fewer, the human resources system (HRS) usage reflects a similar "80/20" pattern.
CUFS and HRS are sophisticated administrative systems requiring a background in accounting, a working knowledge of computers, and continual in-service training and practice for a user to be proficient. Low volume users don't get enough experience to become efficient or effective at CUFS or HRS. The result is that faculty and others who depend on these users are not well served. Low-volume users usually have a large number of other responsibilities, including direct faculty support, student assistance, secretarial and clerical duties, and programmatic functions. Attempting to concentrate on entering an on-line requisition in CUFS while also covering the phone, walk-in students and other important tasks just adds to job stress and the lack of CUFS proficiency.
Low-volume users require a disproportionate amount of central office support and strain central resources to the point of diminishing service on the large volume processed correctly. In addition, central training resources are inadequate to keep hundreds of users properly trained in all aspects of these administrative systems.
Deans, directors and department heads not only count on their financial and administrative staffs for quick, complete and proper processing of transactions, but they also require management information and analysis for decision-making. Management decisions must be made based on complete and accurate data. CUFS and HRS are basically transaction processing systems. Management information is best obtained via the System 1032 database, yet few administrative support staff at UNH have a working proficiency with 1032 as it pertains to financial and human resource data. Monthly training sessions in 1032 are provided by Computing and Information Services and the Controller's Office with sparse attendance. Proper administrative use of 1032 requires a background in accounting and computers. CUFS and HRS users sometimes re-enter transactional detail into PCs for spreadsheet analysis, rather than analyze data directly with 1032 or download data directly to their PCs. Based on observations and interviews, duplicative, manual "shadow systems" (second sets of books) are often maintained at an undeterminable cost of human resources. Elaborate account structures are sometimes established with inordinate details. Redundant controls (such as excessive numbers of approvals or multiple records of the same transaction) are established in some departments.
Technology has improved tremendously in recent years in terms of functionality, dependability and affordability, thereby creating significant opportunities for redefining administrative work. Most personnel/payroll transactions are prepared on paper documents and entered via batch processes. Paper document routing consumes more time and human resources than electronic routing. Sending paper promotes duplicative files and logs and unnecessary concentration of effort on small dollar, high volume transactions. Approximately 85% of UNH purchasing volume is for items costing less than $1,000 each, yet it only represents 8% of the total purchasing dollars. By empowering the initiator with authority to approve transactions up to $1,000, significant productivity can be obtained without significant loss of control. Dean, director, department head, and central office oversight responsibility can be exercised without approving every individual transaction.
Administrative support staff have been called on to provide more and varied services in recent years. The computer revolution, electronic mail, voice mail, and fax have radically changed the functions performed by our support staff, including secretaries. The University is leaning more heavily on the secretarial resource for nontraditional secretarial responsibilities. Many secretaries have developed skills in the use of spreadsheet, database, and desktop publishing software. Secretarial time is now devoted more and more to programmatic, technical, managerial and student/customer support functions. The Task Force's sample survey of 96.86 FTES administrative and clerical personnel at UNH included 55.53 FTES of secretaries and word processors. We found that on average 64% of secretaries' time is spent on secretarial and clerical functions, whereas 23% of their time was devoted to other administrative and programmatic activities, and 13% was for accounting/financial and personnel/payroll services. Responsibility for UNH departmental accounting and personnel/payroll functions is often placed on secretaries, requiring them to access CUFS and HRS on-line computer systems. Given the heavy dependence on the secretary and the myriad of skills expected of them, secretaries often find it impossible to break away for the many training programs required to be proficient in all areas.
Nearly every department, regardless of size, has at least one secretary. Most smaller departments presumably receive excellent secretarial support. The larger departments, however, may not be able to keep up with the workload because the ratio of support personnel to programmatic personnel may be less favorable. When a secretary is on vacation, out for extended illness, or has terminated, the smaller departments are especially hurt because there is no backup support available. Efficiency is lacking in these smaller departments because the resource remains constant even if workload decreases. And if workload increases beyond the capability of the secretary, there is no flexibility to get additional resources.
Strategies: The following strategies will be refined by a Planning Team, appointed by the President and representing the President's Staff and Deans; this Planning Team will report back to the Planning Council by June 30, 1996. The hope is that the originally projected schedule in this recommendation can be followed. Costs will be minimized, and one-time investments in this plan should, in the view of the Planning Council, be requested from funds controlled by the Trustees. BSCs should be mandated by the President.
Fair and equitable standards for distribution of administrative and clerical resources between all UNH units should be set based on consistently applied productivity benchmarks.
Implementation of BSCs is best left to the appropriate dean, director or department head, with assistance from an implementation team and a change management team appointed by the President. The implementation team's function would be to assist deans, directors and department heads with analysis of current state, planning for establishing proper organization, review of procedures and systems, development of appropriate management information tools, and assurance of proper and reasonable internal control mechanisms. The implementation team would assist in developing plans to address training needs, physical work space requirements, and equipment needs. The change management team would address issues of counseling, retraining programs, internal promotional opportunities, reclassifications, early retirements and other incentives, etc. Change management issues are likely to be significant with this plan because the BSC and secretarial consolidation concepts are major changes in the UNH culture.
The changes recommended are substantial and therefore should be implemented in a planned, thoughtful manner over a time period of sufficient length to provide reasonable assurance of success. Although the Planning Team will not be authorized to implement these recommendations until after further consultation with the Planning Council, substantial work should be done over Spring semester. Completion of these goals would be a formidable task in its own right, requiring dedication of substantial human and financial resources. The USNH Long-Range Plan for Administrative Systems may need alteration to accommodate these new priorities. Implementation of goals 1, 2 and 7 (BSCs, secretarial consolidation and proper resources) may begin immediately at one or two units that are ready and able to proceed. The implementation team can apply the lessons learned and knowledge gained from the earlier conversions to future implementations. Goal 8 can only be completed after the other goals are completed and fully operational.
Although a significant number of administrative positions (both PAT and Operating Staff) will be eliminated with these recommendations, we believe it is possible -- and highly desirable -- to minimize layoffs by immediately committing to the BSC and secretarial consolidation concepts, and actively managing natural employee attrition (goal 3). UNH has experienced voluntary terminations of PAT and operating staff of 138, 141, and 159 in fiscal years 1993, 1994 and 1995, respectively. We can therefore anticipate attrition in roughly the same numbers over the implementation period of fiscal years 1996, 1997 and 1998. When a staff person leaves the University, it is incumbent upon administrators across all units to exercise prudence and long-term planning when considering whether to fill the position or to reallocate responsibilities. It may be necessary to hire a temporary hourly employee to bridge the time until the unit is ready to fully implement BSCs and secretarial consolidations. By actively managing attrition and by providing adequate encouragement and retraining opportunities to existing staff over the next three fiscal years, the need for layoffs can be minimized.
The BSC envisioned would be staffed with the best qualified employees or candidates. Vacant positions would be filled through a competitive process to ensure that qualified candidates are hired. Compensation would reflect increased responsibilities. The Controller's Office and other appropriate central offices would be included in the hiring of BSC managers and professional staff. A recertification program for non-read only users would be initiated to ensure that only well-trained users are permitted entry/update access to administrative systems. CUFS, HRS, 1032 and PC training provided by Computing and Information Services and Controller's Office would be mandatory for BSC staff. Continuing professional education budgets and plans would be established for BSC professional staff. Training in supervision, team building, performance evaluations, and other management topics would be required for BSC managers. Documentation of USNH/UNH policies and procedures would be expanded for reference and training of BSC staff.
BSC managers would be held accountable for providing excellent transaction processing and information/analysis service to their units, and for maintaining adequate internal controls over financial operations, including strict adherence to policy and good business practices. BSC Managers would be held accountable for establishing and maintaining properly qualified and trained staffs of adequate size and complexion to carry out all of the financial and administrative functions expected of them by the central offices ultimately responsible for UNH policy adherence and control. If good business practice and adherence to USNH/UNH policies, procedures and practices is not followed, the Vice President for Finance and Administration would have the authority and the responsibility to correct the situation at the BSC by working with the appropriate administrators.
Deans, directors, and department heads would still be held fully accountable for financial results of operations (staying within budget, etc.); they would retain their fiduciary responsibility and their responsibility for policy compliance. The BSC Manager would report directly to the vice president, dean, director, or department head in charge of the units being serviced. The BSC Managers and other administrators would be fully accountable to the Vice President for Finance and Administration to the extent that central financial responsibilities and authority are delegated to them.
We recommend BSCs be established for units with combined volumes of at least 4,200 CUFS transactions per year. This equates to BSCs with generally no fewer than 3 staff. There may be certain exceptions to the 4,200 transaction minimum for BSCs. For example, NHPTV is under 4,200 documents per year, but because of its separate status within the University, it probably requires its own BSC.
Secretarial consolidations should be encouraged by the President but not mandated since circumstances vary greatly within each college or division. For example, a dean, director or department head may decide our strategies for secretarial consolidations are inappropriate in his/her unit's situation and may decide instead on cutting programmatic positions or permanently reducing support budgets. However, it should be realized that, since BSC's will be mandated, the cost to a unit may actually increase unless secretarial consolidations take place. This is because approximately 13% of the work currently performed by secretaries will now be accomplished by the BSC.
While not mandated, secretarial resources for an entire unit should be viewed as a shared pool of service providers. Under this model, the BSC manager would be responsible for general oversight, workload monitoring and assignments, training, and performance evaluation. For example, secretaries could be assigned to more than one department and/or one location per building, or in larger buildings, one location per floor. The secretarial offices would have one to four secretaries in each location, thereby providing for cross-coverage during peak periods or absences. The combination of more than one secretary in an office allows for superior coverage of phones and walk-ins, and also allows for cross-training, specialization (e.g., in word processing or desktop publishing), and career advancement opportunities (presumably in the larger secretarial locations, there would be a senior secretary with daily office management responsibilities). Just as important, secretarial consolidations in this manner provide for much greater flexibility to deal with important and urgent tasks due to double-teaming and delegation opportunities. Academic year appointments and reductions in percent time appointments of support staff are strategies which could result in budget savings. These strategies should be easier to implement in a secretarial location of more than one secretary because while the unit may need multiple secretaries for nine months of the year, it may need only one secretary for the summer.
Projected Outcomes:
By FY99, UNH would be able to reduce its annual operating budget (funds 1050, 1000 and related PAU's) by $1 million to $1.5 million, net of additional costs. Business services, controls and information for decision-making would be enhanced. Secretarial services would be maintained for most units and improved for the others. Career advancement opportunities would be greater due to clear career paths, stronger training programs, and greater visibility within the University. UNH would be well positioned to handle future growth and additional responsibilities such as increased complex regulatory requirements.
Projected savings from implementation of goals 1 and 2 have been computed by applying current UNH benchmark productivity and average salary figures for business, secretarial, and other administrative/programmatic functions to each UNH unit. Analysis of data collected by the Task Force indicates a disparate distribution of administrative support personnel between UNH units. We have developed several computer models to gauge the appropriate level of administrative support, and while each one differs in its assumptions and specific targets by unit, each model correlates highly with the others. Specific targets for each unit will differ from our projected savings as a result of information obtained in the implementation phase, but we feel the overall fund 1000/1050 savings of at least $1 million is accomplishable, especially since the productivity gains from implementation of goals 4, 5, 6, and 7 (estimated at approximately 20% for departmental business activity) have not been directly factored into the total savings projection. In addition, by implementing goals 4, 5, 6, and 8, another estimated six FTES (approximately $160,000 per year with benefits) can eventually be eliminated in central offices; however, these savings must be reinvested in training and business systems analysis/programming.
Beginning immediately and continuing for the next 2 1/2 years, the University must commit to making these goals reality. By fully committing to the BSC and secretarial consolidation models now, the University may avoid a hasty across-the-board response to budgetary crisis in the future, which would result in massive layoffs and bad morale. Investments and decisions should be made now that are consistent with the long-term goals of BSCs and secretarial consolidations. Investments of human and financial resources must be made now, requiring reprioritization of long-standing plans made by the University. For example, the USNH Long-Range Plan for Administrative Computing may need alteration to accommodate these new projects with tight deadlines, and goals set by individual departments may need to be deferred to provide sufficient release time for staff to properly plan and execute the changes recommended herein.
Significant time and effort by current financial, computer, personnel and other administrative staffs will be necessary to implement these changes. Financial investments of approximately $2.0 million (primarily personnel related) will be required to renovate physical spaces appropriate for BSCs; to purchase necessary computing equipment (PC's, scanners, fax's, high speed printers, etc.) for BSCs; to purchase and install emerging technologies; to provide early retirement and other incentive programs; and to add staff for training and business systems analysis/programming. Some of these investments would be required even without BSCs and some investments will actually be less than they would be if we did not implement BSCs. For instance, client/server-based administrative systems will be delivered by our current systems vendors in the coming months and years, requiring all users to access these systems with upgraded PC's. If the number of administrative users is reduced, the cost of purchasing the new PC's will obviously be less. The estimated marginal investment over the next 2 1/2 years is in the $2.0 million range.
To summarize, by investing approximately $2.0 million of additional funds over the next 2 1/2 years, we believe the University can save annually at least $2.0 million (at least $1.0 million from fund 1000/1050 sources) beginning in FY99.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: The graduate student tuition charges made to external grants and contracts have been maintained at resident undergraduate tuition rates. Since many Research Assistants (RA's) on grant support are not state residents, it is appropriate to charge granting agencies rates higher than those currently charged. It should be recognized, however, that being able to charge the resident tuition for RA's has played a positive role in the advancement of the externally supported research programs of UNH.
Conditions: Graduate education can be expensive due to generally small class sizes and the faculty time involved in the individual mentoring of graduate students. When external funding is secured, some of these costs are recouped through tuition charges to grants and contracts and through the indirect cost charges on the graduate student stipends. USNH policy has allowed graduate research assistant tuition to be charged to external grants and contracts at the resident rate.
Strategies: Increase the graduate tuition rate applicable to externally funded research grants.
Projected Outcomes: Increase the rate for full-time graduate student tuition charged to grants and contracts by $1,000 per year. This will require a modification to current UNH policy. The change will result in a net revenue increase of $50,000 beginning in FY98. A delay of one year is required to include this rate change in proposals for grants and contracts so as to assure that the net revenues are realized. Since indirect costs are no longer allowed to be charged on tuition, this change should not be destructive for most of our funded research projects. Significantly larger increases in the tuition rate could cause faculty to shift their resources towards technicians or other personnel rather than graduate students.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: Especially at times of financial stress, there must be clarity about the University's policy on departmental chargebacks.
Conditions: A committee was constituted to review the subject of chargebacks and reported to President Nitzschke in a memo dated February 18, 1992. The recommendations in that memo were never fully implemented.
Strategies: Implement the recommendations from the memo.
Projected Outcomes: No dollar savings, but better business practices will follow.
[President Peterson's Response]
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Rationale: The coordination and management of facilities planning and operation is of vital importance to the mission of the University and to University budgets..
Conditions: The many activities and functions required for constructing and maintaining the University's physical plant are largely carried out by two distinct organizations, Campus Planning and Facilities Services, each of which is currently headed by an associate vice president. The Task Force engaged the consulting firm, Facilities Resource Management (FRM), to provide advice about this organizational structure and about the functioning of both Campus Planning and Facilities Services. Planning Council endorses the major reorganization of these areas as recommended by FRM. This would improve the coordination and management of all facilities related activities at the University and would result in improved services and better use of plant funds at no additional cost to the University.
Strategies: The reorganization would eliminate the two associate vice president positions and eliminate or alter other positions within Campus Planning and Facilities Services. The functions currently carried out by those units would be overseen by the newly created position of assistant vice president for facilities. Three new positions (campus planner, director of capital services and director of operations services) would report directly to the assistant vice president for facilities. These new positions would be filled with appropriate individuals from the current staff or from outside the University.
Projected Outcomes: This proposal is cost neutral with respect to Fund 1000 budget because the funds currently budgeted in these areas are just about sufficient to staff the proposed new organization. The reorganization should maximize the value received for plant funds and avoid unnecessary costs.
[President Peterson's Response]
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