Budget has mixed results for campus
Carolina
managed to hang onto several priorities in the 2003-04 state budget,
but personnel benefits took a blow in the final spending plan.
The budget that took effect July 1 included graduate student tuition
remission funds and left overhead receipts earned by campus researchers
in University hands.
"Considering
these dire economic times and all of North Carolina's competing
needs, the overall budget supported several important objectives
for statewide higher education," Executive Vice Chancellor and
Provost Robert Shelton said in a July 10 e-mail message to faculty
and staff.
New health insurance out-of-pocket monthly premiums
(effective
Oct. 1)
Employee
only $0.00
Employee/child(ren)
$178.22 (was $152.22)
Employee/family
$427.48 (was $365.36) |
The budget also included funding for enrollment growth and student
financial aid at UNC system schools. Based on estimates, Carolina's
share of enrollment funding will be about $10.6 million, with
$7.3 million of that coming from funds generated by student tuition
increases. The campus's financial aid portion has not been determined.
But the campus also will absorb a cut in state dollars. While
the UNC system's Office of the President must sort out the exact
amounts of reductions to the system, projections indicate that
Carolina will take a total hit of about $22.7 million.
That follows cuts totaling some $31 million in 2002-03, including
$13.8 million in permanent dollars. Last fiscal year, 25 SPA employees
had been laid off as of June 23 and several campus programs were
shut down because of state budget reductions.
Shelton said that the process used to handle cuts last year will
remain in place.
"We
leave it to the senior managers who know their operations best
to determine how to make the cuts in their schools and units,"
Shelton said. "We intend to protect, as much as possible, our
core missions of teaching, research and public service and to
maintain the quality of the education we provide to students.
"At
the same time, we aim to reduce the impact of budget cuts on employees,
minimize any layoffs and provide job placement assistance to anyone
whose position is eliminated."
As for personnel benefits, legislators had proposed raises averaging
around 1.6 percent. But instead full-time permanent EPA and SPA
employees on the payroll as of Oct. 1 will receive a one-time
bonus of $550 rather than a salary increase. Part-time employees
will receive a prorated bonus. Administrators do not yet know
when the bonus will be paid out but will keep employees informed.
Permanent EPA and SPA employees in a leave-earning position and
on the payroll as of July 1, also will receive 10 days of bonus
leave. The bonus leave can be used in the same way as annual leave
or can be carried forward indefinitely. Employees will get paid
for unused bonus leave when they end employment with the state.
Also, some employees' out-of-pocket health insurance premium costs
will rise effective Oct. 1. While the University will continue
to pick up all of the cost to cover employees, out-of-pocket costs
for dependent coverage will rise by as much as $62.12 per month.
Relatively good news about health insurance is that effective
July 1, when a qualified "preferred provider" of medical care
is not reasonably available in medical emergencies, the State
Health Plan will not hold the member responsible for the difference
in cost if the hospital charge is higher than the plan's allowable
payment.
The State Health Plan also has announced that, effective Sept
1, plan members who receive services outside of North Carolina
will have access to a preferred-provider network. More information
about this new network will be available during the annual enrollment
period.
The squeeze on employee benefits -- as well as a 5 percent tuition
hike for most students -- was "disappointing," Shelton said.
"We
are concerned about the continued decline in competitive salaries
and benefits and will continue advocating on your behalf about
why these concerns need to be addressed," Shelton said.
Shelton told the "Gazette" that the lack of raises for faculty
is making the campus increasingly vulnerable to losing faculty
to other universities.
"The
reputation of any university is built on the quality of its faculty,"
Shelton said. "Carolina has extraordinary faculty -- however,
our inability to maintain competitive salaries and benefits means
we are increasingly vulnerable to raids from other world-class
universities.
"In
recent years we have lost up to one-half of the faculty we tried
to retain. That is in sharp contrast to a historical loss rate
of one in 10. We must continue to stress this issue as well as
staff compensation in all budgetary discussions."
Tommy Griffin, Employee Forum chair, said he understands that
the state is struggling on the fiscal front, but the University
needs to plan now for what it will do when the economy improves
and budgets are better.
He said one option to consider is restoring programs, such as
H.E.E.L.S. for Health, that have been lost to budget cuts.
"We've
got to be ahead of Raleigh," he said.
