Submit Your Questions for the October 1, Town Hall with President Gabel

As a reminder, Chancellor Lynn Black cordially invites you to a town hall with President Joan T.A. Gabel on Tuesday, October 1, from 1:00-2:00 p.m., in the Kirby Ballroom. President Gabel will open with remarks on the Systemwide Strategic Plan, followed by Q&A and a short reception at the end. Please join us as your schedule allows.
 

We will have a tight schedule, so to help move things along we are asking for questions to be submitted ahead of time. If you have a question you'd like asked, please add your question to this google doc by the end of the day on Friday, September 27.

Thank you.

UMD FY20 Budget Allocation

Dear Colleagues,
 
Each fiscal year, our campus receives a budget allocation letter from University of Minnesota System administration that provides information about our financial resources. We have received our UMD Budget Allocation Letter for FY20 (July 1, 2019 - June 30, 2020). Here is a brief summary of the key take-aways:

• Overall, we are holding steady with a slight increase in our structural imbalance. We ended FY19 with a $3.9 million structural imbalance. We are expecting to end FY20 with no greater than a $4.1 million imbalance.
• We received an increase of $3,250,849 in Operations & Maintenance (O&M) funding from tuition revenues and state funds.
• Our additional tuition revenue for FY20 is estimated to be $986,785 (undergraduate tuition increased 1.5% and graduate tuition increased 3%).
• UMD’s share of the system wide reallocations was $1,273,000, which require budget cuts that UMD has already built into the FY20 annual budget.
• Budgeted expense increases from the System are for the compensation increases awarded in June, cost pool adjustments, HCAMS operating expenses, campus utilities increases, and compensation adjustments for UMDPD and athletics.  
  • $3,980,232 - compensation
  • $179,080 - cost pools
  • $566,814 - conversion of waivers to scholarships
  • $451,700 - HCAMS operating and campus utilities
  • $147,849 - compensation agreement and competitive market adjustments for UMDPD and athletics

Overall, we received less than we requested, therefore we still have difficult work ahead of us.  For example, we need to determine reductions for Fiscal Year 2020 - 2021 soon, because our academic offerings need to be prepared about a year in advance. These cuts will be painful, but it is best to eliminate our structural imbalance as soon as possible and to move forward without these deficits holding us back. Our annual expenses are going to continue to increase, state funding is unpredictable but not likely to increase significantly, and enrollment is critically important. Increased compensation costs are a large part of our expenses, but they reflect the importance of you, our workforce, and it is essential to retain top talent and offer competitive salaries. 

I am encouraged that this letter recognizes that many of the increased expenses over the past several years are out of our control. Some next steps include continuing to work with the System budget office to reverify our budget numbers, utilize data and metrics to guide future decisions, and continue to seek additional contributions from the System to help resolve our budget issues.

Please contact me or one of the vice chancellors if you have questions or would like additional information about UMD’s budget.

Sincerely,
 
Lendley C. Black
Chancellor

Campus town hall with President Gabel, Tuesday, Oct 1, 1-2 p.m.

Chancellor Lynn Black cordially invites you to a town hall with President Joan T.A. Gabel on Tuesday, October 1st from 1:00-2:00 pm in the Kirby Ballroom.  President Gabel will open with remarks on the systemwide strategic plan and is seeking your ideas and input. There will be time for Q&A as well as a short reception at the end. Please join us as your schedule allows.

Remembering Jacob Lavoie

Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff:

It is with great sadness that I send you this message today. After almost a week of searching, the Duluth Police Department and St. Louis County Rescue Squad found missing UMD student Jacob Lavoie’s body in the Minnesota Slip area of canal park Friday afternoon.

As much as we try to be prepared for something like this, it's extremely difficult. UMD is such a tight-knit community and we’re concerned for Jacob's family, his friends, and the faculty and staff that knew him. One of the qualities that defines UMD is the strong contentedness that exists among our community. As much as we may mourn individually for Jacob, our strength is in pulling together and leaning on each other to move forward.

We acknowledge the tremendous efforts of our community law enforcement agencies who worked on this search – the Duluth Police Department, UMD Police Department, St. Louis County Sheriff's Office, and St. Louis County Rescue Squad. We are also so grateful to the community for their sincere support.

Last week, Vice Chancellor for Student Life Lisa Erwin sent an email with information about support resources. I have listed those resources here and encourage their use.

Support resources for students:

• Consider talking with a staff or faculty member you trust. Sometimes talking about your feelings with someone who cares can help. A trusted faculty or staff member can also help you connect to others that may be of assistance.
• Contact Counseling Services. Veronica Gaidelis-Langer, our Case Manager in Counseling Services, is a great resource. (x7913)
• Consider attending a UMD Counseling "Let's Talk" session. More about "Let's Talk" may be found here. The times and locations:

Mondays, 10 a.m. to 12 noon, Kirby Student Center 361
Tuesdays, 5 to 7 p.m, Lake Superior Hall 175
Wednesdays, 11:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., Sports and Health Center 193
Thursdays, 1 to 3 p.m., Kirby Student Center 361

• Call the Office of Student Life for assistance. (x8502)

Faculty and staff:

Your representative in Human Resource can assist you with the Employee Assistance Program (EAP). This program provides confidential professional consultation and referral services. EAP services at UMD are provided by The Sand Creek Group, Ltd. More information about EAP may be found here.

Most importantly, I’d like to send my deepest condolences to Jacob’s family, friends, and classmates. There is no easy path through something like this, and my hope is that we can support each other to find strength and peace.

Sincerely,

Lendley C. Black
Chancellor