September 28, 2007
The Board of Regents of Washington State University held a special meeting at 1:30 p.m., on Friday, September 28, 2007, to consider approval of the 2008 Supplemental Budget Request. The meeting was held in French Administration 422, Pullman, Washington. The Regents, President Floyd, and others joined via teleconference.
Present via teleconference: Regent Francois Forgette, Vice Chair; Regents, Kenneth Alhadeff, Theodor Baseler, Harold Cochran, Elizabeth Cowles, and Laura Jennings, President Elson S. Floyd, Executive Director of Planning and Budget Karl Boehmke, and Assistant to the President Larry Ganders.
Present in Pullman: Regent William Gordon; Senior Assistant Attorney General Antoinette Ursich, and Executive Assistant to the Board of Regents Christine Hoyt.
1. Report from the Vice Chair of the Board of Regents. Regent Francois Forgette called the meeting to order. He conducted a roll call to ensure the presence of each of the Board members listed above and asked President Floyd to provide background to the purpose of this special meeting.
2. Report from the President of the University. President Elson S. Floyd reported that the special meeting had been called so that the Regents could consider approval of the 2008 Supplemental Budget Request. He noted that the deadline to submit the request had fallen between regularly scheduled board meetings. President Floyd thanked Larry Ganders, Karl Boehmke, and the entire staff for their work preparing the Supplemental Budget Request for submittal to the Office of Financial Management.
President Floyd stated that the Regents had considered an earlier draft of the request at the September 6, 2007, Finance and Audit Committee Meeting and had also recently received an updated copy of the request summaries for their consideration. He noted that the request summaries had received much input from throughout the University community and had undergone recent changes following consideration by the University’s senior staff. President Floyd asked Mr. Ganders to review the revisions that had occurred between the September meeting and the most recent summaries.
Mr. Ganders indicated that in addition to technical corrections, this list addresses critical and pressing institutional issues that emerged since the passage of the current biennial budget this year. He said that the changes including the following:
- A salary increase technical correction which was revised upward after conversations with OFM and legislative staff;
- Tri-Cities enrollment increase request numbers were modified to match up with actual fall enrollments;
- The campus safety program was broadened;
- The salary increase number for administrative professional staff was corrected downward to match the original intent;
- The faculty salary number was pushed upward; and
- One capital construction request was deleted
Mr. Ganders also indicated that there were numerous changes made to the text describing each request to try to clarify the intent.
President Floyd stated that this summary will remain a draft and that the actual detailed requests will be submitted to the Office of Financial Management on October 10. He said that the final submittal will represent each request as a “decision package,” which are multi-page documents with much OFM-required data and more extensive descriptions. He also said that there is more work to do as we continue to fashion language and make contacts that will inform WSU constituents and elected officials. He explained that, in addition to seeking approval, he is asking for a delegation of authority to make technical, not substantive, corrections as the request moves through the process.
The Board took the following action:
2008 Supplemental Budget Request. It was moved and seconded that the Board of Regents approve the 2008 Supplemental Budget Request and that the Board delegate authority to the President to make modifications to the request as it moves through the process. Carried.
At 2:00 p.m. the Regents’ Meeting adjourned.
Approved by the Board of Regents at its meeting held October 19, 2007, Lighty Student Services 405, Pullman, Washington.
SIGNED COPY AVAILABLE IN THE PRESIDENT’S OFFICE