With approximately 700 people in attendance, in person and via the Zoom video call, University of Idaho President C. Scott Green addressed a range of issues brought forth by students, faculty and staff relating to the on-going deficit and approach.
“It went how I expected. I think there were a lot of tough questions a lot, a lot of folks would like to have answers,” Green said in an interview with The Argonaut after the event. “It’s still early in the process. We got a lot of hard work ahead of us and a lot of hard decisions. But I also think you heard a lot of people who recognize where we’re at and understand why we’re doing what we’re doing.”
Sashi White, UI student, was one of just a few students who presented Green with a question at the forum, raising concerns over separation between the highest and lowest paid people on campus and the impacts the budget crisis will have on them.
“We as students have to act out,” White said. “We owe it to our facility who teach us, to the staff who are crucial to the university functioning, and to everyone who will come after us to demand something better. Changing the system won’t be easy, but we are here for the challenge. We are strong. We are smart. We are powerful. Let’s get s*** done.”
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Here are the main points brought up:
Possibility of outsourcing in various campus departments
Among the most brought up points and most contentious points was the discussion surrounding the possibility of outsourcing. Several participants asked questions focused on the logistics of the notion of outsourcing while a handful made their statements opposing the potential move.
Nate Spain, a plumber in Facilities Services, said he worries the university does not know the full scope of the work the people in Facilities Services do on the campus at the pay they do it for.
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“I can envision that now we have a company that is not here to save the day, we have a company that is here to make a profit. My job right now, my interests are aligned with UI and keeping our facilities open. If I work for ‘XYZ Facilities Management Global’ my alignment will be turning in as many change orders are I can for that company that can be billed out at $120 an hour with the same smiling face that you guys get for $45 bucks an hour that you guys get right now.”
Dale Graden, UI history professor, said his concern stems from either laying more people off or being reemployed for a lesser pay.
“Allow facilities to make facilities to make decisions about facilities. They’ve committed their lives to the institution. Let them figure out how to make cuts,” Graden said in the forum. “I plead with you not to outsource as a way to resolve this problem.”
Department of Sociology and Anthropology Associate Professor Deborah Thorne, expressed similar frustration at the possibility of outsourcing.
“Those people (Facilities Services, administrative assistants) are the most vulnerable economically, most vulnerable with low status, and probably the least likely to speak out. Our institution is less than if we don’t keep them in the forefront of our decisions. They are the least entitled and the least privileged with the most to lose,” Thorne said. “Those of us sitting here who are faculty and administrators are fairly entitled folks, with really pretty decent salaries and I’d think we’d have a responsibility to have the backs of the folks who bust their butts to keep the institution going. They are our community.”
Green clarified potential outsourcing is still in the early stages and is only one option. Should the university go forward with it, Green said the university will “require” the company continue to provide job opportunities for students and those already employed.
“Again, this is going to be painful for all of us and we need to make the best decision for the community. We are not trying to do it on the backs of those who are most vulnerable, in fact, we should probably protect those who are most vulnerable, but at the end of the day, there are folks who we can’t do this without some pain,” Green said in response to Thorne. “I will try to make the best decisions we can to have the least amount of impact with the most empathy.”
Role of marketing and enrollment
The updated projected deficit, now expected to be $22 million by Fiscal Year 2022, comes following updated enrollment numbers and projected tuition revenue decrease. The additional $8 million in holdbacks following the university’s initial $14 million, come from a projected decrease in tuition revenue due to UI’s full participant status in the Western Undergraduate Exchange program.
The university currently allocates $556,728 to marketing efforts from the total UI operating budget.
In addressing concerns of plans to increase university revenue, Green said it is important the university grow out of the current challenges as well and has been investing in marketing to do so.
Questions and concerns regarding the university’s ‘Next Steps’
In Green’s memo, sent out Oct. 30, he listed potential ‘Next Steps’ in addressing further cuts to address the budget issue, including academic program eliminations and salary reductions and furloughs, among others.
Several expressed concern with current employee salaries and the notion of reducing them further as well as cutting academic programs.
In response to a question via Zoom, Green said there are no current requirements on what programs come or go, but has asked them to identify areas that would have the least impact on UI’s ability to do its job.
“We do have some low enrollment programs I am sure they are going to look at, I cannot promise that there won’t be any programs cut, I don’t expect wide-spread programs cut, I just don’t expect that,” Green said. “I am leaving it up to the deans and the faculty to figure out what is the best approach for us, I am not going to do that for them.”
There are still decisions that need to be made in terms of the university offering early retirement and voluntary separation agreements and likely will not have a decision in the next few weeks.
Green said in regard to a question posed on furloughs, program deans and vice presidents have been asked to have plans by January 2020, but there will be information communicated before then.
Meredith Spelbring can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @mere0415