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Follow the President: Ruch prepares cost-cutting measures for State Board approval
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As part of a continuing effort to cut costs in the face of state budget woes, BSU President Charles Ruch has submitted a summer energy conservation proposal for the State Board of Education meeting later this month.
The proposal aims to cut energy costs on a “flex-time” schedule.
Under this plan, summer classes will be consolidated into a few buildings instead of dispersed around the campus.
Unused buildings will then be closed and not temperature-controlled.
“We can save a significant amount of money if buildings can shut down in the heat of the day,” Ruch said.
University employees will also work different hours, if the plan is approved, modifying the standard eight-hour day.
Employees would work for nine hours from Monday to Thursday, and work a short four hours on Friday.
Summer classes would also be held for four days per week instead of the usual five.
Ruch doesn’t think the reduced days will affect classes.
“It depends on how you package and present them,” he said.
He said belt-tightening in any circumstances can be a bit disruptive, but good management helps to ease the strain.
“Engineers are putting together the plans for this right now,” said Ruch. “We’ll have to be more flexible.”
The plan goes to the University Council today for approval before it is submitted to the State Board.
While the university may not need Board approval for this measure explicitly, Ruch said he feels it is important that when any major issue comes up, he tries to let the Board know about it.
“If we’re going to have school for four-and-a-half days, they should know about it,” he said.
Since a slow economy is reducing state revenues, many items are facing early discussion this year.
This is the reason fee increases were brought up in October.
“Everybody acts as though it were a done deal,” said Ruch.
He said the reality is that the usual fee increase process will continue.
The process includes a call for Board hearings in January, followed by public hearings in February. The Executive Budget Committee will meet in March to formulate its recommendations, and proposals will finally reach the Board in April.
Ruch said the Board requires “fair warning” any time student fees are proposed to rise more than 10 percent.
The State Board also asked all Idaho universities to provide the budget office with contingencies for next year’s budget, in the continuing struggle to predict the shifting Idaho economy.
“We were asked to provide “what if”" answers when we don’t know what the “what ifs” are,” said Ruch.
The details of the economic impact of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks are just beginning to trickle in.
Ruch said these factors make it difficult for individuals to plan, and it is equally difficult for institutions to do the same.
“If you read the business pages, listen to analysts, and watch the reports, you begin to see the effects of 9-11. It is just crazy,” said Ruch.
Matt Neznanski