Approval of Previous Minutes —

Agenda for today’s meeting. Motion to approve by Geraldo Sousa. Seconded by Whitney Juneau. Motion passed unanimously.

Meeting minutes from January 19, 2023. Motion to approve by Geraldo Sousa. Seconded by Jin Feng. Motion passed unanimously.

Guest Speaker Presentation —

1. University Senate president Ani Kokobobo has requested a public, in person forum with the CFO in April. This will be the same presentation that Jeff will give to KBOR in May.
   1. The forum will be just the CFO. We could perhaps hold a separate event to invite the Athletic Director, Master Planner, etc.
   2. Jeff will give a short presentation, followed by questions from the audience. There will be an opportunity for people to submit questions ahead of time. We will include a link to a video with the CFO in the email invites so that people are informed.
2. Insights on where we are with the financial plan
   1. Elements still ongoing
      1. Still waiting on enrollment data for the 20th day of Spring 2023, which will be coming very soon.
      2. Received the governor’s budget, but we don’t know what the state legislature will do with it. Includes an 5% salary increase for all state employees and a 5% inflationary adjustment for expenses. Jeff thinks it is a generally favorable budget.
      3. Workshop tomorrow on strategic enrollment management so that we can forecast strategic enrollment for the next 5 years.
      4. Looking at the all-funds initiative.
      5. Cumbersome events, i.e., 11th and Mississippi project. Currently hiring a national event marketing position.
      6. Significantly far in the competitive pay study. Hopefully that will be done in the next 30-60 days so that implementation planning can begin. Figuring out what cost of living changes might be in 2024.
   2. All these elements will be incorporated into the financial plan. Once this has all been evaluated, we might need to request a tuition increase. The governor’s office and KBOR will accept a small increase (under 3% or under 2.5%, respectively). The plan will hopefully be released in April, preferably before the forum.
3. Discussion
   1. 5% salary increases are difficult in multi-year, grant-funded entities. Would it be possible to do this more incrementally?
      1. Jeff has encouraged Simon Atkinson and Gina Cregg in the Office of Research to build annual 3-5% salary increases into every grant. Cost-of-living adjustments should occur every year and should be factored into all financial planning.
      2. Once we set competitive pay levels/ranges, we need to keep adjusting to inflation, etc. Otherwise, we will be back in same situation. Endowment is automatically indexed to inflation, but grants are not.
   2. How integrated are the financial efforts with the campus master plan? Can you connect these two in the forum?
      1. Completely integrated, as we have an infrastructure challenge in addition to our competitive pay challenge. The campus master plan will lay out deferred maintenance in classroom technology, the status of buildings, etc. Once we have that, we can look at what is realistic with the financial plan.
      2. A Chancellor’s update video with the CFO will be coming out in advance of the forum.
   3. Many departments rely on federal and private grants. Do we have a strategic plan for generating more grant funding?
      1. We are currently looking at several opportunities for private funding. We might not be doing enough though. If anyone has ideas, they should bring these to Simon Atkinson.
   4. What is the motivation for generating creative ideas? It is hard for faculty to do this in addition to their day-to-day. There needs to be actual reward for effort.
      1. Continuous Improvement Program will rely on crowd-funding cost-saving strategies. If someone submits an idea, the university must respond. The hope is that there is a reward for having such ideas and contributions.

Unfinished Business —

Update on Application/Enrollment Data—Corinne Bannon

1. Spring undergraduate enrollment
   1. 20th day is next Monday. Compared to last year at this time, head count is up 1% and credit hours are up 3%.
2. Looking forward to fall
   1. Compared to last year at this point in the cycle, apps and admits are up 23%. Compared to two years ago, they are up 30%. However, apps at all universities are up, so we’ll have to see what happens. Deposit numbers are also up 35% (Kansans) and 65% (non-Kansans).
3. What is causing the overall increase?
   1. Common App, elimination of test scores, decrease in pandemic-uncertainty
   2. This has complications for campus planning. We will need more student housing. Several residence halls have recently been demolished, so we already know that we will need an additional 400 units. Other economic factors in Lawrence will likely also cause an increase in housing demand (e.g., Panasonic plant). We are considering whether the 11th and Mississippi project has some housing capabilities.
4. What potential might summer programs have?
   1. We saw a decline in summer enrollment last summer. There is also a movement of summer programs online.
   2. We could increase the desirability of staying in Lawrence over the summer.

Update on Budget Model—Jason Hornberger

1. Everything related to setting the budget is reliant on the CFO’s financial plan, so we are similarly waiting on a few things.
2. Jason will be meeting with every academic unit and every major administrative unit this spring to go over the budgets. His office does this every fall and spring.
3. There is a big effort in looking at the all-funds dollars.
4. Towards the end of the spring semester, the office will release general fund allocations to each unit.
5. In response to feedback from this committee, Jason will be going back and working with Jeff and Simon to work more on explaining how we are investing in research and faculty start-up on campus.

New Business —

1. In response to feedback from this committee about the 11th and Mississippi project, specifically concern about the lack of public input, Karla Leeper is working on developing a communication plan. She will be working with the City of Lawrence and different sub-areas to figure out how we get input and how we communicate about the project. Many elements are still being defined and input is important.
2. Plan for the rest of the semester
   1. Forum in April
   2. No need to meet again as a committee this semester, unless something comes up
   3. David will write a final report to summarize how the committee addressed its charges.