Members Not Present:

Robin Reyes

Non-voting Members Present:

Catherine Holmes and Susan Norton – Human Resources

Guests:

Dr. Daniel Rahn – President, Medical College of Georgia

Deb Barshafsky – Vice President for Strategic Support

Bill Bowes – Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration

I. Welcome and Introduction – Lisa Wheatley, Chair

Lisa called the meeting to order.

II. Agenda Item 1

EAC Bylaws

· The council members reviewed and discussed the bylaws with regard to adding additional meetings to the schedule. The bylaws only require the council meet once per quarter, however, there is no limitation stated within the bylaws that prevents the council from meeting once a month. All members decided that beginning with the September meeting, the council will hold meetings once a month.

· Also discussed was the possibility of electing a vice chair position to the council. There is nothing stated in the bylaws that would prevent the election of a vice chair position.

III. Agenda Item 2

Furloughs

· Dr. Rahn, Deb Barshafsky and Bill Bowes met with the council to discuss information regarding the budget and furloughs.

· Dr. Rahn stated that the University System of Georgia Board of Regents had made a number of budget-related decisions, with one of those being the University System implementing a furlough program. This is one method to address the difficult budget situation.

· Faculty and staff will be required to take six mandatory furlough days with the exception of employees making $23,660 per year or less. Three of the days must occur before the end of the calendar year and the other three prior the end of the fiscal year.

· Dr. Rahn discussed with the council the challenges that we face as an institution with inter-related activities in patient care, education, and research, versus others institutions in the system that may not need to address the same issues when considering furloughs. It was explained that some other institutions are implementing a two-week closure at the holidays but this is to achieve energy savings and the closures are not related to furloughs.

· Furloughs at MCG will begin in September and each department or unit will have the flexibility to determine their schedule in order to minimize impact. Furloughs can be scheduled so that an entire office or service is closed as long as MCG’s procedures for closing an office during a holiday are followed.

· Deb Barshafsky recommended that the council and constituents review the furlough guidelines and the frequently asked questions posted on the Budget News web site (http://www.mcg.edu/about/budget/) and that updates will be ongoing.

· To aid with communication between the EAC and campus, Deb Barshafsky suggested that an individual from her communication team be designated as a contact and attend the EAC meetings.

· The question was asked why MCG is spending money on expansion projects if there are budget cuts. It was stated that funding for new educational projects and new buildings is not necessarily money that would be allocated to MCG otherwise. The expansion is from different funding sources.

· It was requested that the EAC members continue to engage their constituents to look at processes, programs and services where savings can be realized.

IV. Meeting Adjourned – Lisa Wheatley