Dear Colleagues,

We seem a little out of synch on budgeting the telephone expenses for some
of the various units of the university.  We need to think about this one
some more.

The general objective of this year's review of university fiscal practices
is to put all budget assumptions in the open for l999-2000.  We want to put
all revenue/expenditure expectations in print.  We want to depart from the
series of "unfunded obligations" that somehow get paid from year-end sweep
or salary savings or some other magic.  We want to provide the money to a
budget officer closest to the function for his or her use for that function.

The objective is not to do harm to department operations, but simply to
identify cost centers and leave managament of the costs "closest" to the
operation.  We have "always" had phones, and they "always" have been a cost
somewhere in the university's resources.  We do need to account for those
costs and budget for them.

I have asked Dr. Ross, Ms. Parker, and Mr. Wilson to see if they can meet
with some of the budget custodians who are surprised by what must seem to
be a new approach to phone bills budgeting.  We have a situation where some
folks seem to know of the change and have budgeted for it - and some are
just now learning of the proposed approach.

Stay tuned...we won't make phones impossible.

And, thanks for your patience on the issue.

Bill Stacy