Goal 5
Ensure a Continuing Resource Base that Allows the College to Offer Excellent
Programs at an Affordable Cost.
Objectives in red are those to be met in 2007-2008.
Objective 5.1
By FY10, the assets of the Rhode Island College Foundation shall reach $25 million.
Primary Responsibility: Vice President for Development & College Relations.
Progress To Date:
As of November 30, 2007, the total assets of the Foundation were $23 million,
well on track to achieve the goal of $25 million by 2010.
1/24/08
Fund raising efforts continue to move forward. On target for meeting $25 million goal (if market cooperates!)
6/2/08
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Objective 5.2
By 2010, the number and dollar amounts of grants obtained and the percent of
faculty/administrators involved in pursuing grants will be 20 percent higher
than in 2007.
Primary Responsibility: All Vice Presidents.
Progress To Date:
Together with the Office of Research and Grant Administration, the Office of
Development and the Foundation track grants that are sought and received as
the basis for an annual report.
1/24/08
Academic Affairs Update:
Faculty and staff at RIC have obtained increasing Federal and State funding through the Office of Research and Grant Administration (ORGA) from $5.9 million in 2003-2004 to $9.0 million to date in 2007-2008, a 52% increase. However, the past two fiscal years ($8.9 million 2006-2007 to the current 2007-2008 funding level) show only a projected 1% gain. There may be multiple reasons for this. For one, research infrastructure in the form of personnel has decreased as research dollars have increased. ORGA staff was at 3 full-time employees in 2003-2004 and is now down to one full-time employee with the loss of Anne Pascucci as former Interim Director. There is therefore less time to devote to proactively cultivating faculty, locating funding opportunities and promoting research and sponsored programs. As a result, certain departments with a stated research interest and history of funding have been given more focus in the past year while others have not been sought out. Those departments already engaged are now committed to existing programs obtained through external funding, relatively unable to continue growth due to those commitments.
To attempt to continue the funding increase seen over the past 4 years, ORGA will engage new and relatively untapped audiences in schools and departments currently without any large Federal or State grant awards. As examples, the School of Nursing has a stated research and funding interest but has yet to obtain a significant Federal or State award while the Psychology department has (as a departmental priority) attempted a number of Federal proposals over the past two years without an award. These kinds of schools and departments will be targeted with a renewed focus. When possible under current staffing and budgetary conditions ORGA will also continue or expand its outreach and promotional techniques of the past few years. These include public workshops, proposal consultants, and the newsletter Research Works at Rhode Island College.
Administration and Finance Update:
Security & Safety along with the Dean of Students and the Office of Research and Grants Administration began to seek external funding for safety issues on campus. Although many the Campus Emergency Response and Steering Committee has several recommended projects and one grant was identified, no grants for this purchase have been obtained to date.
6/2/08
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Objective 5.3
Develop an action plan to engage the College community in an effort to ensure
that, by 2010, funds appropriated by the state for the College will be at least
10% higher than in 2007.
Primary Responsibility: Vice President for Development & College Relations.
Progress To Date:
Development and College Relations Update:
Alumni have asked what they can do in terms of lobbying efforts at the state level; on the advice and counsel of the President, we discouraged individuals from “buttonholing” legislators during the current climate.
Administration and Finance Update:
The Budget Office continued to respond to internal and external units with information requests regarding College budgets. Most requests are from internal departments and the Office of Higher Education. State appropriations were reduced twice during the fiscal year resulting in a reduction of 1.5% below FY2007 appropriation levels. The Governor’s recommended state appropriation for FY2009 would be 2.7% below FY2002.
6/2/08
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Objective 5.4
During 2007, expand the College's centralized and coordinated recycling
program. By December, 2009, expand the centralized and coordinated program to
control costs for energy, supplies, and equipment at the College.
Primary Responsibility: Vice President for Administration & Finance.
Progress To Date:
No recycling was done at the College prior to 2001. The new recycling program
now handles the College’s monthly collection that averages over 10,000
pounds for Mixed Paper and approximately 1,000 pounds of Bottles & Cans.
All but a few buildings participate in this recycling process. The combination
of these reductions saved over $50,000 the first year of implementation (2003)
and has continued each year. The crew also recycles used furniture and estimates
an additional annual savings of over $30,000.
2007 Recycling Report
Paper recycled = 137,632 pounds
Bottles and Cans = 12,985 pounds
Corrugated Cardboard = 3,424 pounds
1/24/08
Administration and Finance Update:
The recently completed 367 bed residence hall has been certified as a LEED (Leading in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building. The LEED Rating System is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings.
The College Recycling Program continues to include bottles, cans, cardboard, mixed paper, and office furniture. Monthly collections average 10,000 pounds for mixed paper and 1,000 pounds for bottles and cans. These practices have allowed reduced frequency of trash collection and downsized dumpsters. The Recycling Program was expanded to Residential Life for paper and bottles.
The College continues to excel in being among the first campuses in the region to use “green” processes in the procurement of cleaning supplies and in the execution of cleaning processes including recycled paper and the use of biodegradable concentrates for cleaning solutions. Further, the College continues its Furniture Recycling Program, which significantly reduces expenditures for outfitting offices and reduces landfill space. With the rising cost of steel, an estimate upwards of $30,000 is projected as annual deferred costs due to furniture recycling.
Although fossil fuel consumption has appropriately increased with the addition of the New Residence Hall, the College continues to be in full compliance with the Northeastern Region Green House Gas Initiative.
A campus-wide energy management system has been installed in all but 8 of 43 buildings on campus.
6/2/08
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