Leading off the final Faculty Council meeting of the academic year, held April 20 in 400 Administration, was Senior Vice Provost Charlotte Johnson, who briefed the council on Emory’s approved budget for fiscal year 2005.

The all-funds budget for Emory, encompassing both the University and Emory Healthcare, totals some $2.25 billion for FY05, Johnson said, divided almost equally between the two components. She focused on the University’s Unrestricted Operating Budget (UOB); salaries and benefits account for nearly 60 percent of the UOB, she said, and financial aid adds another 11.3 percent.

Johnson walked the council through several budget- related issues, including a breakdown of revenues; tuition rate changes; market comparisons; FTE (full-time equivalents) trends; indirect cost recovery by schools; and expense analyses by school. She explained certain enrollment trends; for example, in 2004–05 the nursing school will witness a drop in graduate enrollment (due largely to benefits changes within Emory Healthcare) while at the same time its undergraduate enrollment will increase by roughly a third.

Next on the agenda was year-ending committee reports. Reports presented at the meeting included:

• Carter Center liaison committee, reported by Bill Branch, who said he and former council chair Frank Vandall have attended monthly Carter Center advisory board meetings.

• Distinguished Faculty Lecture committee, delivered by chair John Snarey, who said the committee nominated Frank Alexander from the School of Law as the 2005 lecturer. Snarey added that the committee is considering two changes: moving the lecture up earlier in the spring (the lecture is delivered now in late March) and enlisting the help of the president’s commissions to secure more nominations.

• Faculty life course committee, reported by Randy Strahan, who said the group has been supporting the work of Emeritus College. Strahan added the committee is working on a survey to measure new faculty experiences after arriving at Emory.

• University Teaching Fund (UTF), reported by Arri Eisen, who said the committee received 30 proposals during the year and funded 19 of them, for a total of $171,680. Eisen said discussions are under way between the UTF and the University Advisory Council on Teaching about whether the two groups’ missions could be better served by integrating them into one unit.

• Communications committee, reported by Mike Rogers, who said the group is working with John Ellis, co-director of academic technologies with the Information Technology Division, about a new initiative that could provide a web-based communication tool for faculty.

• Future of the University committee, reported by Branch, who reviewed this first year in which faculty have stood as nonvoting representatives on Emory Board of Trustees (BOT) committees. Branch said next year the council must discuss how this relationship will continue: how faculty BOT representatives will be chosen; how often and in what manner they will report back to the council; and the relationship between the “futures committee” and the council itself.

• University Research Committee (URC), reported by David Pacini, who said the group is still in deliberations for its spring funding cycle. Last fall, URC dispensed some $498,008 to 19 projects out of 47 applications. Pacini said the committee underwent some structural changes, forming an executive committee made up of the chairs of each subcommittee (health and biological sciences; humanities; math and natural sciences; social sciences; and visual and performing arts). He also said URC will commit to providing a juried response to each application it receives.

After committee reports, the Faculty Council adjourned for 2004–05. It will reconvene in the fall.

If you have a question or concern for Faculty Council, e-mail Chair John Snarey at jsnarey@learnlink.emory.edu.