You have probably heard reports of the State’s projected budget shortfall. Projections show a budget deficit of more than $950 million. In order to help close that gap, the Governor has proposed trimming the U’s budget by 4%. What does that mean for us in FM? Too soon to tell.
The legislature is working on their proposals for a budget. Until they produce a budget that the Governor will sign we will not know what the overall impact to the University will be. Then, the University will evaluate its own budget and determine how it will respond by increasing revenue and/or decreasing expenses.
The work we have been doing to transform FM has been appreciated by Vice President O’Brien, President Bruininks and the Board of Regents. To continue that work, we have already completed budgets for fiscal year 2009 which begins July 1, 2008. This budget covers all costs for our current service levels. Until we hear otherwise we will proceed as planned.
President Bruininks will be presenting a balanced budget to the Regents in May and June (the Board always reviews budgets one month and acts on the budget the following month). Any budget involves revenue (fund balances, tuition and fees) and expenses (utilities, salaries and materials) and the President will examine both sides of the equation when developing the budget. There is a great deal of negotiation that will occur both between the State and the University, as well as within the University itself. I will be sharing information with you as things become clearer. For now, we need to keep doing a great job and demonstrating that FM provides cost-effective service for the dollars invested.
Great Performance – Tina Kline, B&G Worker East Bank District
One thing to keep in mind as we serve our customers is that how we do something is almost as important as what we do. Listen to this pleased customer.
“I just wanted to let you know about the excellent services that were provided by one of your staff, Tina Kline, recently. We had a minor leak in our office in B-18 Johnston that resulted in some soggy floors and soiled file tops. Tina responded almost immediately to my call. She observed carefully when shown what the problem was and asked appropriate questions about what could be disturbed in the clean-up process. She left me several notes outlining what had been done. She was especially careful about noting any materials that had to be moved to complete the cleaning. I really appreciated this since I work with important student records, and need to know that they have been properly handled.
I was impressed by the work Tina did here. I'm grateful for colleagues like her who can be counted on to handle important papers so carefully. I wish to thank her for her excellent service.”
Our customer appreciated the clean up work and Tina’s communication skills - careful listening and taking the extra time to leave notes on what had been moved. This is a great example of being customer-focused. Thank you Ms. Kline!
Keep up the good work.
Mike
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