Balancing Act

Starting this fall, budget cuts at NC State will be evident in ways large and small.

Here are some examples of how the budget is affecting faculty and staff across campus.

Changes for Cashiers

Instead of taking payments in cash or by check, cashier’s office staff in Harris Hall are asking walk-in students to pay electronically at a computer terminal or mail checks to a bank lockbox.

Electronic bills, which cost 10 times less to process, are now sent except in extenuating circumstances, says Bruce Forinash, director of the University Cashier’s Office.

There’s a plus for students: Those who sign up for direct deposit can access their refunds faster once financial aid has been processed, allowing them to pay other fall expenses.

The major change is in fewer cashiers. “We’ve lost three positions,” notes Forinash, who knows about layoffs from his first career in the defense industry. “I had hoped to see less of it when I moved into working for nonprofits and higher education.”

Managing Mergers

In Poe Hall, two departments cooperated on a merger to reduce administrative costs. Last winter, faculty members began talking about combining Adult and Higher Education with Education Leadership and Policy Studies.

Although the departments served different groups – future elementary and secondary administrators versus postsecondary, adult and human resource educators – this structure is common at research universities, says Dr. Robert Serow, head of the combined Department of Leadership, Policy and Adult and Higher Education, which will serve about 600 graduate students.

The number of education departments has fallen from seven in the early ‘90s to four this fall.

“Sometimes we assume people want to resist change,” Serow says. “That was not at all the case. Faculty were receptive to this.”

Serow’s counterpart, Dr. Carol Kasworm, was willing to change after 10 years as leader of Adult and Higher Education. She had been appointed as the W. Dallas Herring Extension Professor of Community College Education, succeeding a retiring colleague, Dr. Leila Gonzalez Sullivan. Another faculty position will not be filled and parts of two staff positions were eliminated, Serow said.

He will oversee a young faculty group – as many as seven members will be up for tenure.

Turning the Page

With many departments cutting their budgets for printed materials, a related change is in the works. University Graphics will close Monday, Aug. 31, after 75 years of providing offset printing and binding for the university and state agencies.

To help fill the gap, the campus Copy Center will continue to offer color copies, in-line booklets, thesis printing and binding, and high-volume black and white scanning, copying and booklets. Departmental copier services won’t be affected.

Units in need of assistance with strategic or marketing publications can still consult with Creative Services in University Communications (formerly Public Affairs) or Communication Services in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Other printing and binding needs can be outsourced with help from Purchasing.

Service Challenges

Many Physical Plant employees are taking on greater responsibilities.

With 14 fewer positions, housekeepers have larger territories. The budget for groundskeeping, including lawn care, litter control and flowerbed plantings, has been cut. Utility maintenance calls may take longer to answer.

Delays in technical support are likely with the elimination of six support positions in the central unit that supports student, faculty and staff computer use.