UPDATE FROM FINANCIAL AFFAIRS
SEPTEMBER 6, 2007
Thank you to everyone who responded so quickly to the request from the Red Cross to use Saint Mary’s as an evacuation site recently. Many employees gave up sleep and many extra hours working to come to immediately assist with the needs of those displaced from their homes because of the floods. I also want to thank Chartwells who provided over 1,000 meals to the evacuees during their stay on campus. The generosity of the Saint Mary’s community helped fill the immediate needs for many who lost their homes and personal belongings, and our hearts and prayers are with all of them as they rebuild their lives.
Finance and Budget Committee
The university audit was completed in July with excellent results both fiscally and operationally. New standards required very different preparation and participation during the audit. Big kudos to Janelle Ansell, controller, who completed all of the accounting and audit requirements in a professional and timely manner. The university received no findings on the audit.
The 2006-2007 year ended with a net surplus of approximately $3.5 million. One million was used to cover debt service on the Park Avenue North building in Minneapolis, approximately $1.3 million will fund the summer projects approved in Winona, and the balance was transferred to the plant fund for future projects. The year end results were the most favorable in the university’s history.
The budget committee will finalize the 2007-2008 budget in mid-September for approval at the Board of Trustees meeting in late September. Budget priorities of compensation, enrollment management, visibility and marketing, and facilities will remain the same for this year. The preliminary budget was based on Winona undergraduate enrollment of 1240 students and right now it appears that the full time student number will be greater by at least 10 students. In addition, the number of students residing on campus has increased by almost 70 students and the credits being delivered in SGPP are about 10% higher than the previous year. The additional enrollment will provide a positive net budget for the current year.
The budget process for 2008-2009 will begin as soon as this year’s budget is finalized. This year the process will again be online and connected with WebTools. Next year’s budget will include a process for solicitation of special initiative funding from any area of the university through the area dean or vice president. The maximum request from an area for an initiative fund will be $100,000 with a proposal of no more than one written page.
The business office will begin testing the use of CashNet this semester to allow our students to pay online and use credit cards for payments. Direct online billing will also be tested and placed into use very soon.
An open forum on Saint Mary’s financial picture will take place at noon on Monday, September 17 at 12:30 p.m. in the Common Room in Winona and on Monday, September 24 at 11:00 a.m. in Mother Teresa Hall in Minneapolis.
Compensation Task Force
The compensation task force continues to meet to discuss the salary and benefits provided to Saint Mary’s employees. The process for this year will be similar to what was done previously. The task force is currently modifying the employee classification system to provide more accurate divisions of employees to compare internal salaries with comparable external salaries. A goal for this year is to align the classification system with titles, contracts, and job descriptions. The budget committee has been asked to provide to the compensation task force the defined pool of funds that will be used for compensation increases in 2008-2009 by October. The compensation committee will then determine the most equitable way to allocate the pool based on new comparable data collected. The recommendation will be submitted to the president by late December and to the Board of Trustees in February, 2008.
Medical Self Insurance
The health insurance review committee met several times this summer and was a great help in assisting with the decision to change providers from Health Partners to CCStpa, a Blue Cross subsidiary, beginning September 1. We feel the vendor agreements available to CCStpa will provide greater discounts for medical services and therefore save medical dollars. The renewal provides similar coverage with a slight decrease in premium cost to families and approximately 3% increase for Saint Mary’s which continues to provide the total premium for individual employee coverage. In January another option for health insurance coverage with a lower deductible and an employee premium contribution will be available. You will learn more about this in the near future. Saint Mary’s currently has a positive fund balance of approximately $100,000 in the medical fund account.
Beginning January 1, 2008 the Section 125 plan will align with the calendar year to coincide with the medical deductible and the I.R.S. tax year. This change was a result of the employee survey on benefits collected during the 2006-2007 academic year.
Winona Facility Improvements
During the summer new single bathrooms were completed in Heffron residence hall to replace the gang type showers, the development suite was remodeled, Room E of the Toner Center was renovated into a suite for student development, the softball and baseball fields were resurfaced, the roof was replaced on the chapel, air conditioning was added in Griffin Hall, the classroom in Hendrickson room 13 was renovated in a new style. In addition new furniture was purchased for the student residence portion of Saint Yon’s Hall to have it prepared to reopen in August.
Other changes this summer included additional energy conservation improvements such as the freezer replacement in food service, a more efficient chiller in Hillside and the purchase of two electric vehicles for maintenance use.
Investigation on the design of an outdoor track continues and the board of trustees will be asked to approve that addition to the campus at their September meeting. The concrete pad across from the Toner Center and near the ball fields is the site for a gazebo which will be built in the near future.
Facility Planning
The facility planning committee continues to meet to consider the short and long term needs of the Winona campus. This group is meeting every two weeks this year and is made up of students, faculty, several cabinet members and other administration. We have started a three year plan for facility improvements and are now considering a 15-20 year plan. As plans are solidified they will be shared with the community. There are several subcommittees of the group looking at classrooms, space utilization, and the latest subcommittee will begin planning the new science building. If you have ideas you’d like to see incorporated into facility changes please send those to me or John Schollmeier for consideration by the committee.
Saint Teresa Campus
Maria Hall was sold to Winona State University in late August for $2.5 million. Winona State had leased the building from Saint Mary’s since we purchased that campus. $1.6 million of the proceeds was used to complete the payment of debt for the purchase of the Saint Teresa campus. A portion of the balance will be used to create a new parking lot on that campus and the balance has been deposited to the plant fund.
Technology
There were 11 Tegrity classrooms added in Winona this summer. Tegrity usage appears to have increased about 25% with 73 sections and 841 students now using the technology. 150 new computers were ordered to replace or upgrade existing systems. Wireless access was expanded to cover all residence halls, Toner President’s Room and cafeteria, 2nd Griffin, theater, Cardinal Lounge and Gostomski fieldhouse offices. We also added internal networking speed, storage capacity, and backup capacity.
Bookstore
Barnes and Noble is a Saint Mary’s partner who assists with providing the availability of books and supplies for our students as well as revenue to the university. Please continue to support them.
It has been a busy and productive summer and thanks again for all the great work.
Please let me know if anyone has questions, concerns, or ideas on anything in the financial area. Remember to wear red on Friday’s to show your Saint Mary’s spirit. Have a great year.
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