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Manoa Faculty Congress Minutes of October 15, 2008
Architecture Auditorium

Chair Klaus Keil called the meeting to order 3:02. 

Keil welcomed Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw, Vice Chancellor for Administration, Finance, and Operations Kathy Cutshaw, and Assistant Vice Chancellor Karl Hafner.

1. Congress unanimously approved the February 20, 2008 Faculty Congress Meeting Minutes as submitted.

2. Keil asked VC for Administration, Finance and Operations Kathy Cutshaw to address the Congress on the state of the UHM budget.  Main points included:

- UHM’s base G-fund budget increased by $50M between FY 06 and FY09.

-Tuition revenues grew by $32M at the same time.

-“Carry-forward balances” overall have increased. The balances look like available cash, even though much is dedicated funding for special purposes.

Slides breaking down this information are available at

http://www.hawaii.edu/uhmfs/documents/cutshaw_congress_10-08.pdf

-The Governor’s Office budget memos (late August, mid-September) were based on the Council on Revenues projections which predicted a general-fund tax-revenue growth rate of +1% for FY09.  According to the Governor, that represented a potential income shortfall of over $900M.

-Governor’s budget instructions asked all Departments to submit FY10-FY11 biennium budgets with 10%, 15% and 20% cuts.             

-UH System immediately froze many general fund expenditures.

-UH System president asked each campus to show how it would make 10% cuts “while maintaining our commitment to repairs & maintenance.” For Manoa, a 10% cut amounts to $7.9M ($5.2M in general funds and $2.6M in tuition). The UHM Chancellor’s Office plans to cover the $5.2M general fund cut via electricity savings and not filling positions.

-UHM economist Carl Bonham now sees a zero to -1% growth rate. In preparation, Deans & Directors have been asked to provide scenarios for 2%, 3% & 5% budget reductions from their allocated funds. The Chancellor will take the resulting scenarios to her new budget advisory committee.

-The Faculty Senate’s Committee on Administration and Budget will very soon be sending out a faculty survey get input on potential ways to reduce costs. 

In discussion, it was noted that a -1% growth rate would likely mean a 20-40% cut in UHM discretionary income funding -- a $400mil shortfall for biennium.

3. Keil introduced Assistant VC for Campus Services David Hafner to talk on the status of Repairs and Maintenance projects.

Hafner’s slides from the presentation are available at:

http://www.manoa.hawaii.edu/ovcafo/FacilitiesManage/MiscDocs/Energy%20Update%20101508.pdf

In his presentation, he make these observations the following observations:

- Merely catching up with deferred-maintenance costs over the next 10 years would cost UHM $500M. The total Facilities Budget is today $48M/yr. Most likely, selected emphases over the next decade will involve these priorities

1.  Roof repair

            2.  AC repair

3.  Edmundson Hall return to service.

-The overall UHM facilities budget is dominated by the fact that electricity costs are up 50% in one year.

-Facilities seeks a 50% drop in energy usage over 10 years.  However, UHM can’t reduce electricity usage faster than costs go up. (HECO continues to charge us for oil at its peak per barrel rate; its bills do not reflect recent significant drops.)

Discussion of energy usages involved

Q:  Why are our buildings so cold (or so hot)?

A:  Buildings built with AC by DAGS have AC either on full blast or off.  There is no calibration possible. Where UHM is upgrading, it installs variable speed AC motors and various dampers.

Q:  Mold is major health problem.  What will we do to prevent mold’s growth if we turn AC down or off?

A:  You don’t allow anyone into a building when AC is off—to prevent infiltration of moisture.

-Campus will work to restore natural air flow, currently found in Sinclair library, once the rule in most campus buildings.

-If maintenance is forever deferred, buildings will have to fall out of service. 

-We have to re-imagine how to run a tropical university; e.g., give up heavy-duty power stations, projectors, etc., that require vast stores of electricity.  

4.      A motion to adjourn the Congress was approved at 3:00 p.m.