Board of Regents approves outsourcing and budget

Elizabeth Erwin

News Editor

eerwin1@murraystate.edu

 

The Board of Regents met for their quarterly meeting on June 8 to finalize the university budget and vote on outsourcing options for university services.

Out of the measures discussed the Board approved the budget recommendations presented in May, approved to outsource dining services to a third-party contractor, provided information about options for on-campus health services and approved partnership opportunities between Murray State and other institutions.

 

Budget

The board voted to approve the budget recommendations presented by the Office of the President.

“This is a tight budget,” President Bob Davies said. “But it is one that is built on realistic expectations.”

As a result of statewide cuts, Murray State will be decreasing its budget by 7.6 million dollars for the upcoming year. To help offset cuts, a 3 percent increase on tuition, housing and dining plans was proposed during the Board’s special meeting on May 1.

The specifics regarding the budget recommendations can be found in our previous coverage here. 

A majority of the budget recommendations from the May 1 meeting remained the same. However, in a later section of the meeting the Board voted to cap the faculty sick bank at 30 days versus the original recommendation of 20.  

When discussing university employees’ salaries and wages, Vice President of Finance and Administrative Services Jacklyn Dudley made many distinctions.

Dudley spoke about how the temporary or extra pay employee pool would face the largest wage reduction of 1.3 million dollars. Dudley said that this reduction would limit the university’s flexibility when needing to hire temporary workers. 

“The student worker pool is the smallest reduction,” Dudley said. “We worked hard to protect our student worker wage pool.”

As for a reduction of university positions, 55 positions have been deleted. Out of those 55 positions, only 11 were filled.

Three of those employees have been reemployed by the institution, Dudley said.

No specifics were given regarding academic programs being reduced or cut as a result of budgetary constraints.  

 

Dining Services

In a unanimous vote, the Board approved the outsourcing of dining services.

When discussing the necessity of outsourcing, Executive Director of Auxiliary Services David Looney spoke about inefficiencies that created a competition for campus resources between dining services and other sectors of campus.

These inefficiencies included employee recruitment, training, facilities design and accounts management. Inefficiencies that by outsourcing, would become the responsibility of a third party contractor versus the university as a whole.

The search for a company to contract with is ongoing. Looney emphasized that by outsourcing, the university wouldn’t be giving up control over dining services.

Once a company is selected, meal plans will still have to be approved by the Board, dining service representatives will still meet with the Student Government Association and the Residential College Association and a secret shopper program will be implemented to make sure that the company selected is consistently delivering quality dining.

Looney also emphasized that international students would still be eligible to work on-campus through dining services.

When a company to contract with is selected, a designated subcommittee of the Board will approve the final contract. However, no timetable has been set.

 

Health Services

Murray State has been approached by Fast Pace Urgent Care Clinic to provide on-campus health services for the next academic year.

Vice President of Student Affairs Don Robertson told board members that the university is looking into leasing the current Health Services space to Fast Pace.

Fast Pace would have a registered nurse on-campus who would be able to virtually meet with a physician in order to determine the type of treatment needed. If the on-campus registered nurse was unable to perform the necessary treatment, students would be referred to the off-campus Fast Pace location at no additional charge.

Contrary to years past, the clinic would not be a free service provided by the university. Students would have to use their insurance or pay out of pocket in order to receive care. The out of pocket cost would be $85 per visit.

Robertson mentioned several times that if a student did not want to go to the on-campus Fast Pace location, they would still be able to use another health care provider in town and that the university would make sure that students were aware of alternative locations.

This section of the meeting was informational only and no action was taken by the Board.

 

Partnerships

During the meeting the Board approved to partner with West Kentucky Community and Technical College for a new program called “Accelerate U!”

AU would allow students who otherwise were unable to meet admissions criteria for Murray State to live on campus and take Murray State and WKCTC courses. By the end of the year long program, participants would be admitted to Murray State and have at least 24 credit hours to go towards general education courses.

Currently, 37 students are participating and will have their on-campus summer orientation on June 18.

Murray State also approved a partnership with Shandong Technical and Business University located in the People’s Republic of China.

“This is an immense opportunity for us to not only expand our enrollment but also to expand our global footprint,” Davies said.

The partnership would allow Shandong students to receive a dual degree in accounting or finance from Shandong and the Arthur J. Bauernfeind College of Business. The partnership would also allow Murray State faculty to teach in Shandong.

“This will set the stage for other significant opportunities,” Robertson said, mentioning that in the future Murray State be able to seek partnerships between international universities and other colleges at Murray State including the College of Nursing and College of Education and Human Services.

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