Office of the President

April 15, 2004

 From:  Thomas J. Meyer

Subject:   Final Exam – The Modern Community College
To:   Dr. Smith

 Dear Dr. Smith: 

As the founding president of Metropolitan United Community College (MUCC), it is my pleasure to present to you and to the community of Metro City this general budget proposal and its rationale in the form of an Internet Explorer webpage for your approval.  This webpage has twelve dozen linked bookmarks enabling you to move through the parts of the document and to examine numbered explanatory notes at the click of a mouse.  To obtain these advantages, I wish to say that the preferred method for studying the document is to view it online.  However, if you must print yourself a copy, remember to print webpage documents in using your printer's "landscape" setting rather than its traditional "portrait" setting.  The decisions regarding academic programs, the faculty, the academic support services and staff, and the institutional support services and staff have been mine to ponder, and I accept the responsibility for initiating the budgetary proposals, and coordinating the efforts of the human resources I have thought it in the interest of Metro City to hire to make part of my “team.” 

I have listed some of the assumptions underlying the nature of your directive to me.  I have met, and in some cases exceeded the 7 criteria you established for me.  I am pleased to report that your expectations and those of the town council can be achieved in a frugal manner that does not compromise the comprehensive nature of MUCC, that I have ignored the political temptation to receive monies in return for hiring a relative of a state senator unless that person compete and be chosen as best qualified, and then only if the senator's proposal first undergoes the scrutiny of yourself and the town council and receives your consideration and recommendation for my approval.

In every other respect you will find that I am prepared to utilize all of the resources allotted in the manner which I believe most clearly earns your approval.  When on three occasions additional judgments on my part were necessary, I made those decisions which are open to you now in the following bullet statements:

You can "mouse about" in the following document found beneath my signature if you have opened it successfully as the FrontPage document on Internet as I created it.  It will run on Internet Explorer, but I dissuade you from running it on Netscape Navigator.  Send me your questions, or considerations so that I may allay your concerns, or sharpen your sensitivities about the funding process.  If I don't have the immediate answer, I will provide you an approximate time when I expect to be able to respond to your needs.  Thank you for the opportunity to serve you and the people of Metropolitan City.  Should you need to link to the document directly, use the following directions:

1st, type http://www.ph.vccs.edu/eco into Internet Explorer.
2nd, scroll down my "homepage" nearly to the bottom, and click on the word "Administration."
3rd, scroll down the page known as "Administration" beyond work being completed for "Statistics" and click on the link beneath Dr. Marshall which should take you to Metropolitan United Community College.
4th, if you choose to ignore the advantages of a  linked document and simply wish to print the document, use "landscape" (11" X 8.5") rather than "portrait" (8.5" X 11")on your printer settings.

If I may be of further assistance, do not fail to ask!

Sincerely yours,

Thomas J. Meyer

Thomas J. Meyer
President, Metropolitan United Community College
Metro City, VA
tmeyer@ph.vccs.edu
(276) 656-0283

Introduction

                 To enlighten the community and solidify its support I have paid particular attention to the guidance I received from you, and am responding to your needs using Microsoft Word to present my rationale, and using Microsoft Excel to express the budgetary numbers.

 Assumptions:
1.  My understanding is that the state legislature has offered initial support subsidizing the first three years of the core staff of the college, that is, 13 positions  and appropriate support staff beginning with my own presidency and including six vice-presidents; and six directors. 

2.  In addition the legislature has provided the entire cost of physical plant maintenance to include personnel, supervisors, supplies, equipment, and utilities.

General Instructions to the reader:

1.  Use the following table of bookmarks to take you to the various parts of this budget rationale and included Excel spreadsheet.
2.  Use the back button (arrow) on you computer to return to a previous position.

THE BUDGET RATIONALE

PART I - MEETING THE SEVEN CRITERIA 

                Per my question to you via Teletechnet, I am also relieved of the responsibility for creating the location, buildings, and grounds, so that my report will consist only of a budget and rationale for the use of $10 million provided by Metro City for the initial year’s budget, and is subject to meeting seven criteria mentioned on the second page of your written guidance to me.  I shall address each of your specific tasking requirements briefly, and then continue my rationale in more general terms:

1.  PERSONNEL

Regarding the task of creating personnel slots for faculty, administrators, and staff not listed above, the Excel spreadsheet will provide you monetary costs for hiring in budget categories A through P the necessary persons to simultaneously satisfy requirements 2 through 7.  Items F, G, H, M and O in that list do NOT involve expenditures for personnel, and refer respectively to monies allotted to non-traditional delivery stipends, budget reserve, library contribution, Phi Theta Kappa, and arbitrary extras.  The reasons for a category know as arbitrary extras are that initial guidance from you was not clear as to whether or not travel and supplies monies should be made available to adjunct faculty in the arts and sciences and adjunct faculty in the technical training areas.  Not wishing to fall short of your expectations, I budgeted for supplies and travel for the adjuncts as well as the full-time A&S and full-time technical training faculty.  The second reason for including these questionable arbitrary expenses was that it will be a positive morale builder and professional development activity encouraging adjuncts to compete for permanent positions and to bring to the community college students their best talents and tools and those which we can afford to provide for them.  When you study budget categories A through P you will also notice that items K and N involve more than personnel expenditures.  Items K and N include monies that provide supplies for intramural athletics and clothing, travel, and related expenses for student ambassadors.

 2. COMPREHENSIVE COMMUNITY COLLEGE  (The priorities of the college)

To design an appropriate balance among elements of the mission statement for Metropolitan United Community College I sought to include flexible components responsive to changing needs.  Without setting  component sizes concretely, I sought to achieve results for Metro City students wherein:
Priority 1 -  the transfer function of sending our 2-year graduates on to 4-year institutions would have the highest priority;
Priority 2 - the teaching of technical training in preparation for vocational employment upon completion of certificates or diplomas became the second priority; 
Priority 3 - the provision of remediation in learning so as to equip otherwise incapable students to succeed in college became my third priority;
Priority 4 - the development of community-based training programs to aid and attract industry to Metro City became my fourth priority;
Priority 5 - the construction of synergistic services that would provide financial aid, community service, and competitive image of success became my fifth priority;
Priority 6 - the underwriting of a college endowment fund became my sixth priority as a means of solidifying continued support and good will with the frugal city fathers who need to know that we have provided for our own posterity;
Priority 7 - the continuing dialogue with the legislature regarding political monies not wholly academic in nature I regard as my seventh priority;
Priority 8 - my eighth priority is to invent an alumni association from which we can continue to draw good will and future interest; 
Priority 9 - my ninth priority is to pay attention to federal funding and grant monies of all sorts so as to be responsive to forthcoming changes. 
Priority 10 - My tenth program is to integrate Metropolitan United Community College with the VCCS by proposing a unique curricula wherein all 23 other community colleges and Metro can utilize an electronic delivery classroom to conduct an annual intercollegiate debate tournament, culminating with a face-to-face culminating tournament at the end of each season.  Such initiatives demonstrate our interconnectedness with our sister colleges and with the historic Virginia legacy of spirited public debate for which the Commonwealth should always be known.  This initiative is already being set in motion by myself in conjunction with the Chancellor's Professional Grant system monitored by Dr. Susan Coffey.
Priority 11 - My eleventh, and as yet unfunded priority, will be to seek to internationalize the curriculum in such a way as to redress the outsourcing of American jobs.  It will be my priority to infuse in the American workforce an appreciation for the language, culture, and diversity of those to whom we sell, and to inculcate and appreciation of the same skills from those we wish to hire.
Priority 12 - My twelfth priority will be to invest portions of surplus monies into an endowment fund, with the goal of indexing the fund to the approximate return of 10% in the stock market achieved between 1929 and 2000.  Monies well diversified and  untouched over the long term (20 or more years) can be expected to double approximately every 7.2 years using the "rule of 72" and allowing for much wider fluctuations over the short term.  The town council may rest assured that my own personal portfolio has been so harnessed since 1982 and has enjoyed a slightly higher rate of return than I have mentioned in Priority 12.  Bear in mind that we are talking of long term performance and ruling out withdrawals or considerations of less than 8 years into the future.  Monies needed within 8 years will not be so invested. 

The first five priorities required some degree of specification and I agreed upon the following:
(i) transfer education should receive from 1/3 to ½ of our emphasis;
(ii) technical training should receive form ¼ to 1/3 or our emphasis;
(iii) developmental education should receive form 1/5 to ¼ of our emphasis;
(iv) workforce development should receive from 1/20 to 1/10 of our emphasis;(v) financial aid, community service, and a competitive image should receive up to 1/20 of our emphasis. 

There are future plans to address priorities 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11.  Among other initiatives under study,  I would like to consider incentivizing our most successful graduates by rebating portions of their tuition consistent with there future successes in attaining 4-year degrees.  After our two-year incubation period, I would consider incentivizing our faculty by indexing their salary increases to increases in the consumer price index and to paying bonuses consistent with their productivity, retention rates, success earned by graduates, and by their contribution to the community and the learning community of the VCCS,  the unique missions at Metro, and demonstrated excellence in teaching.  We shall convene a series of committees to devise an optimum way to reward personnel for theses additional contributions to the well-being of Metro United Community College.  Your advice and that from committees of study so organized will be very much appreciated.

3.  APPROPRIATE STUDENT SERVICE FUNCTIONS
Nearly 14% of the first year of monies needed to attract a student body at or exceeding 5500 have been allocated to student services. 

4.  5500 HEADCOUNT FOR 2^ND YEAR OPERATIONS
An algorithm leading to 5519 students for the second year exceeds this requirement set forth by the town council in Metro City by 19 students. 

5.  SUPPLEMENTAL FUND OF AT LEAST $1 MILLION
The algorithm I present creates funds remaining from initially allotted monies of $1,032,600, less $37,750 to comply with "Other Understandings" given me in your guidance, and raises additional monies in the amount of $1,082,000 using donations, foundation revenues, and workforce development revenues. 

6.  BUDGET RESERVE OF $100,000
Item G in the budget meets this requirement. 

7.  COLLEGE FOUNDATION
The algorithm includes monies to establish the college foundation.  I intend to send the director to meet with Kathleen Holt who has placed Patrick Henry Community College among the leading small colleges in America by way of donations.  Patrick Henry Community College obviously performs this function in a manner superlative to its peers and we can learn how it has established contributions leading to additional buildings without recourse to state funding.

THE EXCEL SPREADSHEET

The Excel attachment shows how 5519 students for year two were arrived at.  I was able to arrive satisfy priorities (i), (ii), and (iii) shown on page 1 by hiring the “right” numbers of faculty in three categories: Arts & Science, Technical Training, and Developmental Education.