Academic Library Services Budget Chronology 2008-2009
Prepared by Jan Lewis, Associate Director, last updated October 6, 2009
Prepared by Jan Lewis, Associate Director, last updated October 6, 2009
| Date | Action | Amount / Budget | Impact |
| 7/1/2008 | Original budgets received for 2008-2009. | $3,525,933: Acquisitions $2,075,539: Virtual Library $8,227,871: Operating |
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| 8/20/2008 | Received continuation budget for FY0809 for “LIB BOOKS”. | $ 141,221: Acquisitions | |
| 9/26/2008 | 1% PACE permanent cut taken from Acquisitions budget and Operating budget. We also submitted a scenario for a 2% PACE cut. | ($ 120,150): Acquisitions ($ 21,641): Operating |
Cancelled microform and print serial subscriptions. Reduced binding. Did not purchase Taylor & Francis online journal archive collections. Cut supplies budget. |
| 11/11/2008 | ALS was asked to prepare for permanent budget reductions for 2009-2010 of 1.3%, 2.6%, and 3.9%. Memo and spreadsheet detailing proposed cuts were sent to Academic Affairs on 11/19/2008. | Proposed cuts would come from Operating, Acquisitions, and the Virtual Library. A 3.9% cut would equal $547,456. | |
| 11/14/2008 | ALS received enrollment increases to Virtual Library and Joyner Library for 2008-09. The Academic Council pulled $100,000 from the original enrollment increase allocation to help address critical funding requirements. An additional $50,000 would have gone to VL, $30,000 to ALS & $20,000 to Laupus. | $263,132: Virtual Library $157,879: Operating |
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| 11/17/2008 | Special Director’s Council meeting held to discuss possible cuts. Ideas included closing the DLC desk, cutting the self-help budget; freezing positions; reducing library operating hours; reducing the publicity/marketing/special events budget; investigating pay per view options for journal articles; reducing expenditures for special collections acquisitions; and charging non-ECU persons for videoconferencing services. | ||
| 12/4/2008 | Possible budget cuts were discussed at the Library Assembly meeting. Ideas included freezing one or more of the following positions: Collections Librarian 1, Collections Librarian 2, Electronic Resources Cataloger; suspending the Library Fellow program; reducing library operating hours; delaying plans to redesign the first floor, including the collaborative learning center/immersion zone; using the Langford Endowment funds for Acquisitions; and reducing the publicity and marketing budget. | ||
| 12/8/2008 | ALS was asked to prepare for permanent budget reductions for 2009-2010 of 5.2 and 6.5%. Memo and spreadsheet detailing proposed cuts were sent to Academic Affairs on 12/16/2008. These documents added two higher levels of cuts to those submitted on 11/19/2008. | A 6.5% cut would equal $912,427. The memo and spreadsheet discuss the impact of the proposed cuts at various levels. | |
| 1/23/2009 | ECU issued budget reduction implementation guidelines. | Support for faculty and SPA travel and professional development restricted; vacant positions ordered held until 6/30/2009. | |
| 1/28/2008 | The Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance told the Deans that they needed to return 3.9% of their 2008-2009 budgets to the university as a non-recurring budget cut. We were told that lapsed salaries could be used. Our target: $547,456 | ||
| 2/23/2009 | We were informed that Academic Affairs had to make a cut of $1.4 million and that ALS’s share of the cut was $579,191. This amounted to 7.97% of our “total permanent operating budget” – our budget minus permanent EPA and SPA salaries and benefits. This cut was made instead of the cut we were told about on 1/28/2009. Lapsed salaries could not be used. Our reductions were submitted to Academic Affairs on 2/25/2009. | ($120,000): Acquisitions ($260,0000): Virtual Library ($199,191): Operating |
Acquisitions:
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| 2/23/2009 | ECU Foundation informed the Dean that 11 of ALS’s 12 “true endowments” were underwater, meaning that any unencumbered balances in the spendable fund lines would be swept back into the Restricted Earning Fund on March 1st, and there will be no spending from that fund next year. The value of ECU’s endowments fell 29% during the four month period ending January 31, 2009. | ($1,118,626.81) | The greatest impact was losing the spendable amount from the Langford Endowment ($1,038,463), which we held in reserve for two years in anticipation of remodeling the first floor to create a Collaborative Learning Center. Plans to remodel the area and purchase new equipment, furniture and services desks were put on hold. We also planned to use the Langford Endowment spendable amount to purchase the Stuart Wright Collection over a 10-year period. Loss of funds from other endowments affected acquisitions that would have been made by Reference, North Carolina Collection, Teaching Resources Center, and Special Collections, as well as Development activities. |
| 4/14/2009 | The Provost forwarded to the Deans the OSBM memo dated 4/9/2009 setting forth additional budget management restrictions. | This memo effectively stopped all purchasing activity if the order was not placed by April 9 and the item received by April 16. The wording of the memo and the gap between the date it was issued and date ALS received it led to much confusion. Some orders were placed during this gap that could not be paid. Items ranging from books to computer headsets had to be returned. Use of the ProCard was frozen. Payments we planned to make to EBSCO and Solinet for deposit accounts were not processed, complicating the handling of recurring invoices and our budget management strategy for FY2009 and FY2010. The restrictions on spending meant that nearly all funds remaining in our Acquisitions, Virtual Library and Operating accounts reverted to the state. The loss of approximately 35% of the combined Acquisitions and Virtual Library budget lines meant that we would not be able to place new subscriptions, spend out the monograph budget, continue the ILL purchase on demand program, process binding shipments, receive approval plan shipments, or process serial/standing order renewals. A large amount of staff time was needed to request and document exceptions to the budget restriction management guidelines, communicate with Accounts Payable, and contact vendors to arrange for delayed invoicing and/or to cancel shipments. The freeze on the Operating budget meant the cancellation of some ILL requests, restrictions on the use of the library vans, no ordering of supplies, and other impediments to conducting regular business. Staff contributed refreshments for previously-scheduled public events, including the April FaculTea. Initially, it appeared that graduate students could only be hired for Summer Session 1 if they had received a verbal commitment prior to April 9 and/or were already on the ECU payroll. This restriction subsequently was lifted. It continued to apply, however, to self-help students. | |
| 4/14/2009 | The Provost requested that all units submit administrative cuts. | ($39,299): Salary & benefits | ALS submitted Position #942432 Administrative Support Associate – Journey as an administrative cut. Thus, this position is no longer an ALS SPA position. |
| 4/15/2009 | ECU Foundation Executive Committee decided not to authorize a loan for the first payment for the Stuart Wright Collection. | After the Langford Endowment went underwater, the ECU Foundation considered authorizing a loan so that ALS could proceed with acquiring the Stuart Wright Collection. However, the economic condition in the state led it to decide not to do so. As a result, the purchase agreement has been terminated. | |
| 4/17/2009 | ALS held a faculty forum on the use of stipends in the unit, pursuant to the Chancellor’s request. | ||
| 4/20/2009 | Information about the use of stipends in ALS was sent to the Provost. | $11,461: Salaries | As of May 11, 2009, we were waiting to hear whether we would be able to continue the use of stipends. |
| 4/21/2009 | Decision made not to send any additional work to At Your Service: Library Contract Cataloging. | Delay in cataloging some Music Library materials. | |
| 4/24/2009 | First requests for exceptions were sent to Academic Affairs for items to be paid in May. | Exceptions were granted for payment of the annual access fee for Archive Finder online database and to put gasoline in the Library’s delivery/service vehicles. As of May 11, 2009, we were waiting to hear whether additional requests for exceptions would be granted. | |
| 5/1/2009 | Associate Director sent an email to ECU Official concerning ILL. | ||
| 5/5/2009 | Dean sent an email to ECU Official concerning the impact of the budget management restrictions on ALS. | ||
| 5/6/2009 | ECU’s Revised Emergency Budget Management Restrictions were distributed. | ||
5/14/2009 |
Dean held a library-wide meeting to discuss the possibility that ALS would have to make cuts of 20-30% in its FY 2009-2010 budget and the impact this would have on the ECU community. |
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5/18/2009 |
ALS received exceptions to pay Federal Express invoices for the shipment of materials to distance education students and for Interlibrary Loan materials handled through the KUDZU consortium. |
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The approval of the request for exception ensured that ALS was able to comply with the SACS requirement that distance education students have access to library resources and the ACRL Guidelines for Distance Learning Library Services which state that DE students should have “direct physical or electronic access to library materials equivalent to those provided in traditional settings." It also allowed ALS to fulfill its obligations within KUDZU. |
5/26/2009 |
The Assistant Directors documented the impact of budget cuts in the 20-30% range on their areas. |
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| 6/1/2009 | ECU lost access to the database Bibliography of the History of Art (BHA) because the invoice for renewal could not be processed under the Emergency Budget Management Restrictions. After we’ve explained the restrictions, many of our electronic resource vendors have agreed to grace access for us for one to two months past the end of our license agreements. The vendor for BHA was not able to do this, so access to the resource was terminated. | The ALS Web site indicates that ECU’s subscription to BHA has expired and that we will determine if ECU can reinstate a subscription to the database once the spending freeze has been lifted. It also notes that partial coverage of the BHA is still available on CD-ROM in the Reference Department. Members of the Art History faculty contacted the Library to express concern, noting that BHA and other electronic resources are critical to their ability to maintain the level of scholarly work expected at institutions of higher education. | |
| 6/4/2009 | OSBM announced that it would not accept any additional requests for exception. | All additional invoices associated with Interlibrary Loan Services will have to be held and paid from the FY 2009-2010 budget, along with all other invoices. This means that the already-reduced FY2009-2010 budget will have to cover numerous expenditures from the preceding year, as well. Because of the freeze imposed on April 14, 2009, ALS was not able to spend 35% of the combined Acquisitions and Virtual Library budgets for FY2008-2009. Payments for ongoing subscriptions will have to be made from the FY2009-2010 budget, even though the obligations were incurred and the bills were due during the previous budget year. |
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| 6/4/2009 | Joyner Library reduced its operating hours for Summer Session 2, due to the budget cuts. | The reduction in hours affects all library patrons, but most especially our non-traditional students and faculty members. Members of the public who use our collections primarily on weekends are inconvenienced, as well. | |
| June 2009 | Joyner Library is considering reductions in its operating hours for Fall 2009 and Spring 2010, due to the loss of up to ten full-time faculty and staff positions and severe reductions in the funding for graduate assistants, self help student employees, and security guards.Once decisions are made, the revised hours will be available on our Web site. | ||
| 6/10/2009 | Dean and Associate Director presented 9% and 20% budget cut scenarios to the Provost and discussed the effects of the cuts on research, teaching and the Library’s mission. | ||
| 6/12/2009 | ALS submitted its 9% and 20% budget cut scenarios to Academic Affairs, using the template prescribed by the University Budget Director. | 9% cut: ($1,308,198) 20% cut: ($2,907,106) |
The recurring budget cuts will require the cancellation of print and online journals and standing orders; cancellation of numerous databases; severe reductions in the number of monographs, DVDs, and other tangible items purchased during the 2009-2010 fiscal year; reductions in binding and preservation activities; reductions in digitization projects; and reductions in outreach, community engagement and promotional activities. ALS will solicit faculty and student input as we make cancellation decisions and allocate the remaining acquisition funds. |
| 6/15/2009 | Spreadsheets describing the 9% and 20% cuts were distributed to ALS. |
9% cut: ($1,308,198) 20% cut: ($2,907,106) |
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| 6/17/2009 | Joyner Library reduced its operating hours for Fall 2009 and Spring 2010, due to cuts to the operating budget. | Closing earlier in the evenings is necessary because of reductions in the budget for temporary and student workers. Building use statistics were examined to help determine the hours to cut. Lesser-used hours were selected. Once final budget cuts are known, a decision will be made concerning whether the Library will be able to offer extended hours during exams. | |
| 6/22/2009 | The Dean sent an email to the ECU Official mailing list alerting the campus to upcoming cuts to the library budget. The email set forth the principles and strategies ALS will use to determine budget cuts. It provided links to a list of resources being considered for cancellation and to a list of resources for which cancellation decisions have been made. | ||
| 6/29/2009 | ECU's 2009/2010 Budget management Guidelines were distributed | ||
| 7/1/2009 | The Division of Academic Affairs accepted the majority of ALS’s 20% budget cut scenario for its overall 9% Division budget reduction plan. The cut in the Virtual Library was reduced from $588,323 to $285,194. With this change, ALS’s total reduction is $2,607,106. It represents 17.9% of the ALS total budget. | 17.9% cut: ($2,607,106) | The reduction in the cut to the Virtual Library will help preserve some electronic resources. However, many online journals and databases are funded by the ALS Acquisitions budget, not the Virtual Library. The cut of more than $1.1 million to the Acquisitions budget will necessitate the cancellation of print and online journals and standing orders; cancellation of numerous databases; and severe reductions in the number of monographs, DVDs, and other tangible items purchased during the 2009-2010 fiscal year. The cut of more than $1.1 million in the operating budget will mean shorter library hours; reduced expenditures for binding and preservation activities; reductions in digitization projects; and reductions in outreach, community engagement and promotional activities. As part of the budget reduction plan, 3 EPA and 7 SPA positions will be abolished. The EPA positions are: Collections Librarian, Electronic & Continuing Resources Cataloging Coordinator, and Distance Education Co-Coordinator. The SPA positions that will be abolished are in Acquisitions (1), Building Operations (1), Business Operations (2), Innovation & Technology (2), and Reference (1). |
| 9/9/2009 | Joyner Library announced the restoration of normal operating hours for the library. | ||
| 9/15/2009 | Dean Larry Boyer presented the library’s budget reduction plan for dealing with the 17.9% cuts to the ECU Faculty Senate. | ||
| 9/29/2009 | The Provost announced the restoration of some the funds cut from the library’s budget | $265,000 restored to the Acquisitions budget; $75,000 restored to student and temporary staff lines to fund expanded library hours; $20,000 restored to the travel/training budget to support faculty research and service and staff development. | Budget lines for monographs, DVDs and other materials were increased. Areas of emphasis include:
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