May Tuition 2002 Campus Update

MSU Moorhead
Office of the President
203 Owens Hall
1104 Seventh Ave. S.
Moorhead, MN 56563
(218) 477-2243

May 2002 Campus Legislative Update

May 24, 2002

To: The Campus Community

From: President Barden

Re: Campus Legislative Update

Capital Bonding Results: What a relief to know that the Science Teaching Lab facility will be funded by the 2002 Bonding Bill for $19 million. Remember that in January, Governor Ventura included in his budget recommendation an initiative for improving the teaching of science and technology in Minnesota. Proposed projects to build new facilities at Minnesota State Moorhead, Winona State, and UM-Duluth and several two-year campuses were supported by the Executive Branch then, and in the end – last Wednesday – these projects survived the Governor’s rash of vetoes.

In the Legislature, MSUM’s project was ably supported in the House by Representative Paul Marquart of Dilworth who is a member of the House Higher Ed Finance Committee. In the Senate, our champion was Senator Keith Langseth of Glyndon, who is chair of the Senate’s Capital Investment Committee and Conference Committee that negotiated the Bonding Bill passed by the Legislature in the closing hours of the session. Senator Langseth showed again that he is a strong supporter of public higher education in Minnesota and he was particularly supportive of MSUM’s project.

On behalf of our entire campus community, I have expressed gratitude to our legislators and the governor for their support. The Office of the Chancellor worked actively and effectively on our behalf and earned my gratitude as well. And in this message, I thank the leaders in our science faculties and Dean Ron Jeppson plus Todd Stugelmeyer, Vice President David Crockett and their co-workers who put this project together (square inch by square inch) during the planning and design phase in the two years leading up to the 2002 Session.

The Next Step – Campus Construction: Because we now have the $19 million needed for constructing the new science teaching facility, we must ready ourselves for a very visible amount of construction over the next two years. We will break ground shortly after our annual July 4th community celebration. Construction will start shortly thereafter.

This construction project will disrupt our campus life for some time. In the next week, my administrative team and I will finalize a summary of the procedures and timeline, and I will then communicate to the campus community and our campus neighbors. For now, you should be aware that the parking lot between Hagen Hall and Weld Hall will obviously be closed because this is where the science teaching lab will be constructed. The parking lot north of Hagen Hall, will be closed in part to provide a staging area for the construction materials and crew. Seventh Avenue will be closed for a time also, to facilitate the construction.

To be frank, the northwest part of our campus will look disrupted during this phase of improving our facilities. I appreciate your understanding and patience over the next two years of this large project.

MnSCU’s Relief From Cost-Cutting Measures: Among other actions taken by the Legislature, I bring to your attention that MnSCU was explicitly excluded from the hiring freeze imposed on Executive Branch agencies and, in the final moments of assembling the state’s Budget Balancing Act #2, MnSCU was explicitly excluded from the prohibition on contracting for professional and technical services. Either measure – imposed as cost reduction strategies – would have been extraordinarily awkward and painful for our campus. The Chancellor and his Government Relations staff, ably assisted by the legislative liaison folks from our labor unions, were very instrumental in gaining relief for us. And, our hometown representative – Representative Kevin Goodno – played a key leadership role in achieving these changes as he was the Chair of the House Team in the Conference Committee that hammered out the final bill. It is important to note that excluding MnSCU from the prohibition on short-term contracting cost about $11 million. That is, excluding MnSCU from the cost reductions meant that the cuts had to be achieved in some other part of state government. Representative Goodno’s leadership in making this switch (in the face of outspoken competitive interests) is a clear sign that he is working for the good of this academic community.

Labor Contracts: You have all heard by now that our negotiated labor contracts were not ratified by the 2002 Legislature. This will lead to a bit of maneuvering these next weeks, largely in the resigning of contracts to re-establish their formal standing. It is not clear whether the contracts will be ratified prior to the 2003 session. It is clear that our payroll staff will be called on to do a Herculean task of undoing and then redoing implementation of several contracts. The IFO contract has yet to be implemented, but will be soon. And, the Administrators Plan, Managerial Plan, and Commissioners Plan have yet to be acted on by any appropriate legislative group; nothing will happen for employees covered by these plans until authorization occurs.

Please watch for communications from MSUM’s Human Resources office and Payroll Office that will clarify dates and impacts of changes in the paycheck area. Also, watch for explanatory information from your union, as some procedural matters are idiosyncratic to a particular contract.