Campus Reengineering Committee

Minutes: February 2, 2001

Members Present

• Larry Furukawa-Schlereth, Chair
• John Bond
• Carol Cinquini
• Katharyn Crabbe
• Bernie Goldstein
• Dennis Harris
• Lori Heffernon
• Ahmad Hosseini
• Nate Johnson
• Mike Kiraly
• Rand Link
• Lynn McIntyre
• Edna Nakamoto
• Gloria Ogg
• Katie Pierce
• Floyd Ross
• Sam Scalise
• Jane Wright
• Melinda Barnard
• Jim Christmann
• Rick Luttmann
• Perry Marker
• Susan McKillop
• Eric Carlson
• Sean Pridmore
• Cystal Shrouf
• Brian Turner

Members Absent

• Letitia Coate
• Neil Markley
• Phil McGough
• Andy Merrifield
• Alan Murray
• Steve Wilson

Guest Present

• Chuck Rhoades

Approval of the Agenda

Larry Schlereth brought the meeting to order at 12:17 PM. Schlereth asked for a motion to approve the Agenda. Dennis Harris moved and Lynn McIntyre seconded a motion to approve the Agenda. The Agenda was approved without objection.

Approval of the Minutes

December 15, 2000 Schlereth asked for a motion to approve the minutes of December 15, 2000. Carol Cinquini moved and Perry Marker seconded the motion. The minutes were passed unanimously with abstentions from those not in attendance at the December 15, 2000 meeting.

Action/Information Items to Date

Schlereth asked Members to note the additions to the list since the last meeting

Vice-President's Report

Addition of Susan Kashack to CRC Membership

Schlereth proposed the addition of Susan Kashack, Director of News and Information, to the CRC, given the broad range of CRC activities and the importance of accurate and current information being available. McIntyre spoke in support of the proposal. There being no objections from the membership, the Chair announced that Kashack would be invited to join CRC beginning with the next meeting.

Appointments

Schlereth announced the successful completion of the search for a Senior Director of Risk Management. Rick Ludmerer, now with the CSU Office of General Counsel, will assume his new responsibilities March 5th. Ludmerer was awarded a J.D. by Georgetown University. As a Senior Director, he will also join the CRC. Cinquini asked whether Ludmerer would also serve as SSU Counsel, to which Schlereth replied that William Knight would remain SSU Counsel, although Ludmerer would become the primary contact for SSU with the CSU General Counsel's office. His new office will be in AFC-3.

AFD Retirements

Schlereth informed the Members that two senior directors would be retiring. John Bond will leave the campus at the end of March 2001. In the short run, his responsibilities will be split between Bruce Walker and Rich Marker. Also leaving, not later than July 1, 2002, is Harris. The chair expressed his regret at the loss of two able administrators.

Financial Aid Reorganization

Schlereth reviewed the transfer of Financial Aid to Administration and Finance last July, with administrative responsibility falling to Steve Wilson and George Urdzick. CMS has overburdened Wilson. As a result, Gloria Ogg assumes both a new title, Senior Director for University Business Services, and responsibility for both Customers Services and Financial Aid.Parking Reassignment Ogg will forfeit responsibility for Parking, and Nate Johnson will inherit both the Parking Program and, some suggested, not incidentally, the new Parking fee structure. Rick Ludmerer noted his surprise that Parking and University Police were not already related. Schlereth said they had once been, but complaints of overzealous and insensitive action to students resulted in Parking's transfer to Customer Services. Changes in personnel, particularly the appointment of a new chief with extensive university police service experience and high academic credentials, made the new organization possible. However, Schlereth requested that all CRC members keep both Johnson and the CFO informed of any perceived problems that emerge because of this change. Brian Turner asked if the reassignment included the appeals process. Ogg stated that this was in transition currently. In response to a question from Bond, Schlereth explained that Police would also take over responsibility for Alternate Transportation.

Fleet Management

Schlereth announced that, consistent with the review of fleet management undertaken a year ago, the forthcoming retirement of Mel Caven as a lead automotive mechanic would result in the presentation of a proposal to outsource fleet services. Harris will make that presentation at the March or April CRC meeting.

Green Music Center

Schlereth stated that planning for the center was now at the assigned development phase, with construction scheduled to begin in April. Although it will create a substantial workload for both Facilities' Planning Staff (Walker, Chris Dinno, and Deborah DuVall) and both Procurement and Accounting in Financial Services, SSU will handle construction management internal. This will result in a significant financial saving for the project. He has agreed to have Administration and Finance assume responsibility for the costs of landscaping the 34-acre GMC project, since that was not included in the financial plan for project fundraising. Once a landscaping plan and cost estimate have been developed, CRC will be asked to review and provide advice on funding this new responsibility. Jim Christmann asked whether the Parking Program could be responsible for landscaping of the parking lot. Scherelth responded that it wold be an appropriate expenditure if it did not result in increased fees, in which case it would have to be reviewed with the Fee Advisory Committee. Sean Pridmore asked whether the mature trees near Copeland Creek would be removed. Schlereth responded that these were located within the Creek mitigation area; the committee making recommendations on mitigating the impact of the project on the creek would make recommendations on this. Schlereth also announced that the campus had "lucked out" in one respect. The dirt of "Frisbee Hill" would be removed when the next phase of Student Housing began construction near Parking Lot F, and this could be used for the sound barrier and amphitheater terracing required for the center. This is fortunate because, as it turns out, "dirt-cheap" is somewhat expensive. Cinquini suggested the campus hold a "Plant a Tree" fundraiser among the various divisions, schools, departments, and student groups. Schlereth welcomed all suggestions as he develops a funding plan for the landscaping project. Bond reminded committee members that the Landscaping staff had acquired inexpensive bear root trees and grown them in containers far in advance of the opening of Sauvignon Village to avoid the cost of planting large, more mature trees. It was doing the same thing now in preparation for landscaping the area north of the creek. Schlereth acknowledged the impressive work of the talented staff in Landscaping.

Sauvignon Village

Sound Wall Schlereth began by noting the campus hired an accutition (sound expert). He concluded that the current 8' wood fence did not serve as a sound barrier. He also concluded that a 6' concrete wall would not serve as an adequate sound barrier, and that only an 8' concrete barrier would serve the purpose. The estimated cost to extend the existing concrete wall from Verdot Village parking to the south end of Sauvignon parking is $80,000. He has identified a funding source: Conferences and Special Events had an excellent year, with net revenue up over $90,000. Susan McKillop, noting that it was common for adjacent property owners to share the expense of a wall between their adjoining properties, asked whether the condominium owners association was willing to contribute anything to the construction cost. Schlereth answered in the negative, but noted that it was a good point, one worth pursuing. Christmann asked what other uses might be made of the Conference profits. Schlereth answered that, since the revenue was derived from Housing facilities, it had to be used on Housing-related expenses. Among these, it could be used for expenses associated with planning new housing. Bernie Goldstein said Schlereth's response raised any issue he had long wondered about. What happens to revenues acquired through the rental of academic facilities? Schlereth responded that revenues from CPA facilities go to the School of Arts and Humanities and that from Athletic facilities to the departments of Athletics and Kinesiology. In response to a question from Katie Pierce, Schelereth said that Conference profits could be used to fund student programs in the residence community. Both Pierce and McKillop urged that the condominium owners be made aware of the lost opportunity costs associated with construction of the sound barrier.

COPS Award

Schlereth announced the award of a $150,000 federal grant through the COPS program through an application prepared by SSU Chief of Police Johnson. The grant will fund the hiring of two additional police officers. As a condition of the grant, SSU will continue these positions once the grant runs out, with financing coming from the expanded Student Housing program. Dr. Johnson has also prepared an application to fund expanded traffic control through a State grant.

Charlie Brown Café

Schlereth announced the opening of the new café in the Schulz Center and commended Allen Murray, Walker, Dinno, and Neil Markley for their effort in making the new café a reality. The new café is a direct response to the SNAPS student survey and complaints that the campus lacked a variety of food and dining opportunities for students. The café is having difficulty filling student staff positions and may find it necessary to hire off-campus, hourly-intermittent employees instead of SSU students. Melinda Bernard asked whether a Press Democrat article was accurate when it stated that Starbucks ran the café. Schlereth said no; however, the design was modeled after that of both the Starbucks and Wolfe facilities. McKillop remarked how sad the "empty and unhappy" Commons was now that coffee and pastry were no longer available in the morning and students no longer used it as a study area. Schlereth responded that Enterprises was studying possible changes, including opening a coffee bar. Rand Link observed how successful the new cafŽ had already become; open 90 hours a week, it is the first time students, employees, and visitors have had someplace to go at night and on weekends. Christmann said that he had seen little publicity about student job opportunities in the new cafŽ; this was a good subject for an article in The Star and for an advertisement listing positions available. Edna Nakamoto responded that they had advertised through the Career Center. Eric Carlson suggested that students avoid "less glamorous jobs like scrubbing pots." Ogg noted the campus does have a large number of students working for Enterprises and for Facilities, that Charlie Brown alone has about 50 student positions, and that Customer Services had trained over 100 new student employees just last week.

Cooperage

Schlereth announced that the next food venue to open would be the Cooperage in Sauvignon Village. This will be more upscale and may generate some criticism because of its rich appearance. Its banquet room will be the site for the President's Dinner and a real test of Enterprise's ability to cater a sit-down dinner for 450 people. During the summer, it will be turned into a wine bar and microbrewery for the Conference and Special Events program. Bernard asked whether a committee was looking into future use of the Commons. Schlereth responded that the facility had never been profitable, as Bernard was aware from her service on the Enterprise Board. The building was "sort of a dinosaur" because students "don't eat cafeteria-style any longer." In contrast, The Pub is doing better than ever. The Commons does work well as a banquet hall for Conferences and Events. Link added that the facility serves as a meeting space for student groups.

Campus Financial Affairs

The Governor's Budget. Schlereth introduced a January 8, 2001 report from the CSU Office of Governmental Affairs, entitled "2001/02 California State University Support Budget". [Available at the following CSU web site:http://www.calstate.edu/GA/legindex.shtml.] He noted that, although the language was that of the CSU Office of Public Affairs, and might be subject to interpretation, the figures were those of Governor Davis. Turning to page 2 of the document, he noted that the Trustees' had received "most of what they requested", including 3% enrollment growth (4.5% for SSU); no increase in the student fee for the 5th or 6th straight year; and a 4% pool for employee compensation. SSU would receive a portion of the funds designated for K-12 collaboration; a portion of the $10 million for high cost programs, which is now permanent, for the campus Nursing and Computer Science programs; a portion of the $10 million for technology build-out, the final piece of in-lieu funding for the forming CETI initiative. The $20 million in one-time instructional equipment funding would bring about $225,000 to campus; this would be in addition to the $200,000 in permanent funding identified by VP Schlereth and Provost Goldstein. Of the various items "above the base", Schlereth noted that the 2% for salary equity was probably the highest priority. Of the remaining items, little would come to SSU, assuming any of it survives the impact of the energy crisis.

McKillop asked whether the CSU has looked at COLA increases for the comparative institutions used to determine the salary gap. Schlereth said he would follow this up with the Chancellor's Office. Nakamoto asked whether the budget included funding for Year Round Operations (YRO). Schlereth answered that nine campuses were going on YRO in Summer 2001 and would be funded at the Marginal Cost of Instruction: Chico, Fresno, Hayward, Long Beach, Pomona, Sacramento, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, and San Francisco. The remaining campuses, including SSU, will begin YRO in Summer 2002

Status of the Campus Reserve Schlereth introduced the following table for purposes of discussion:

Increase in Natural Gas prices could produce a potential new Reserve item of as much as $750,000.

The CSU is attempting to obtain additional funds from the State of California for this purpose.

Discussion focused on the footnote at the bottom of the table. Schlereth commended the campus for its reduced electrical usage. Because of the joint CSU-UC contract with Enron, which runs through March 2002, SSU should do fairly well. However, the Department of General Services has informed the campus that it can expect a natural gas deficit of as much as $750,000. Harvey DeLorm, SSU's Director of Engineering has taken the figures for natural gas expenses through December, combined with a forecast of usage for the remainder of the year, and estimates a shortfall of about $550,000. At worst, the energy crisis could absorb all the enrollment growth money for 2001/02; if that happened, the faculty would lose the most, since they would teach an additional 305 FTES with no additional instructional resources.

Bernard asked about the impact of Student Housing on the utility bill. Schlereth responded that Harvey's "shedding the load" plan left Housing as the last area to have utilities cut off. Unfortunately, the units in Sauvignon Village had individually controlled thermostats, and the cost of utilities was built into the contracted housing price. Increases in utility costs could lead to higher housing prices next year. Pridmore noted that the thermostats only had two settings -- high and low -- and that the insulation did not seem to be that great. Carlson said that he understood the thermostats had fixed, non-adjustable, temperature settings. He also noted that there was strict language in the student contracts prohibiting any tampering with the thermostats. Schlereth noted that Harvey would like to move to central control of heating in Student Housing, but there would be a cost to make the change. Another possibility is to moving Housing from "Interruptible Commercial Customer" status to that of a "Core Customers", although this would increase the cost of Housing utilities. Christmann said that, with central heating, students do not understand the cost of natural gas on the environment. Sam Scalise cautioned against creating a situation in which students would resort to electric space heaters, which are considerably more expensive. McIntyre noted that we are all spoiled by inexpensive electrical costs, but that students -- if educated -- would respond well to conservation measures, particularly if the alternative were to pass on the increased cost of utilities. Christmann observed that we were already in a conservation mode; any money saved from the capped electrical costs can go to pay the uncapped natural gas bills. He also referred to a somewhat cryptic comment from the Governor regarding the UC and CSU systems becoming the sites of energy co-generation and asked if Schelereth could clarify this. Carlson expressed his concern that the Marginal Cost formula would be used to distribute the increased energy costs. He suggested that this be distributed instead on the basis of square footage. He also expressed concern about the impact that these costs would have on programs with fixed revenue such as IRA. Schlereth said that all programs, including those of the Associated Students, the Student Union, and the Student Health Center, should be building budget plans expecting a utility price increase. McKillop noted that this is going to require publicity on campus. Schlereth responded that Harvey is planning meetings with the School Deans and the Department Chairs, and that each of the vice presidents is aware of the problem.

Faculty and Staff Housing - Architectural Support

Schlereth said that the feasibility study had reached the point where the campus needed to retain an architect to develop plans for the prospective housing. It was proper to delay this until we know what land we are working with, and that there had been encouraging conversations with the owners of the land across the creek and northwest of campus. Noting concern that campus funds not be used, Schlereth said the committee is considering building into the purchase price a home owner's fee of about $200 per month to fund the estimated $466,000 required for a project of 290 houses. Administration and Finance will probably "front" the funds required, with repayment coming as the houses are sold.

Harris expressed support for building the architectural fees into the purchase price rather than making those part of the maintenance fees; these are construction costs, and not ongoing maintenance expenses. Ludmerer expressed his agreement and his belief that these below-market houses will indeed sell well.

Responding to Schlereth's comment that Administration and Finance would also have to absorb the cost of landscaping the Green Music Center and the Parking area north of the creek, Nakamoto expressed her concern about the impact of this on the division.

Christmann asked whether the university would retain title to the land on which the housing would be built, and - if so - would it share in the appreciation of the property. Schlereth responded affirmatively to both questions. Christmann also asked how utilities would be handled. Schlereth responded that he was not sure; they could either be purchased through the university, taking advantage of the CSU-UC contract with Enron, or handled as they would be in any private subdivision development -- through direct contract with the local public utilities. Carlson suggested the campus look at the special interest group market for housing sales, organizations such as campus fraternities and sororities. McKillop noted that the CSU Trustees would be under increasing pressure to deal with the high cost of housing; SSU should position itself to take advantage of any initiative they undertake in this area. Christmann observed that an expenditure of $1,250 per faculty member would be a very good investment for the Chancellor's Office. Ogg asked whether our on-campus construction project managers would handle this project as well. Schlereth said they already have several projects underway.

Katharyn Crabbe expressed her support for the project. Goldstein expressed his appreciation to Schlereth for the leadership that he has provided on the faculty housing initiative.

Student Housing Expansion

Schlereth expressed his appreciation for the helpful comments provided by CRC on this issue. He noted that the Faculty clearly wants some way to have input, and that he is delighted that the Academic Senate has created an ad-hoc committee on student housing. Administration and Finance is focusing on the technical and financial issues associated with student housing expansion; questions regarding the impact of this on campus climate and on academic quality are properly the province of the Academic side of the house. He is hopeful that the Academic Senate will respond in a timely fashion, because the President has given him a mandate to proceed by no later than August 1st. The campus has selected an architectural firm for the project, but he is not ready to announce the identity of that firm until the fee has been negotiated.

Schlereth briefly reviewed the subcommittees working on this issue. Crystal Shrouf volunteered to work on the Affordability Subcommittee.

Information Technology Advisory Committee

This item was skipped.

Common Management Systems

Schlereth asked Cinquini to provide an update on it. Cinquini announced that the Human Resources element was moving well and was on target; additional consultants have been hired for the report segment. Financial Resources lost its lead consultant to another project and is hiring a replacement. Student Affairs is "snowballing", with the number of planning meetings. It has been "fast-tracked, and all training and implementation is to be completed within twenty months. Business Practices will begin implementation in March. The campus CMS program has recovered the old CMS training facility near the new ETC building, and it will be operational by March 1st. There are technical concerns, particularly the collapse of the contract with IBM for hardware and operational support and the short staffing for a project of this magnitude. There will be an orientation in February, an overview of the Student Administration module. Crabbe commented that the training program is quite good and that she is impressed with the functionality and increased confidence participants are gaining.

Schlereth said the most important issue was the magnitude of the impact of the initiative on the personnel who most implement it on campus. Things can easily "slip through the cracks" as key personnel are handling both their normal responsibilities and the intensive training and development demands. As an example, he cited Payroll people training all day and implementing the Unit 3 (Faculty) raises late at night. Crabbe said her group has 22 days of training in February alone, and this is on top of their regular responsibilities. Even where there is CMS backfill, it is not possible to get the expertise the people normally assigned to the responsibilities bring with them. Scalise noted the impact of CMS on IT and the difficulty of operating when key expertise is involved in training or development.

Parking Violation Amnesty Program

Johnson introduced a proposal to initiate an amnesty program for those with unpaid parking violations. The proposal was formally moved by Harris and seconded by Christmann. Ogg provided background, noting that the campus had done this three years ago, and that it had been quite successful. SSU had been unable to utilize DMV records because its MAC computers were not compatible with the DMV system. She noted that both SSU employees and students would be included. Shrouf expressed her approval for the amnesty program and her concern that for some students it will be there parents who find out about the program and not the students, since the vehicles will be registered in the parents' names. Bond noted that the amnesty involved the penalties only; violators would be required to pay the fines. There being no further discussion, the motion was approved unanimously, with one abstention.

Items for the Good of the Order

McIntyre announced an open session for one of the candidates for the Senior Director of Enrollment Services would be held Tuesday, February 6th, from 10 to 11 a.m. in Schulz 1121. The candidate is currently Director of Enrollment Services for the six-campus Austin, Texas, community college system. She also noted that both finalists have extensive experience in system conversion.

Bond announced that the Recycling Program had received two $25,000 grants. A conveyor belt had been acquired and was now being used to sort recyclable materials with increased efficiency and under much more sanitary conditions. The greatly increased funds from the sale of recycled materials are now paying for student labor.

Cinquini commended Pat Seda for the renovation of the Stevenson Computer Lab and his ability to utilize remnants to replace the worn-out carpeting.

There being no further business, Schlereth adjourned the meeting at 4:05 p.m..

Minutes respectfully submitted by Dennis Harris March 6, 2001

CRC Minutes 2000-2001
Updated 2008-01-10
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