Suggestions on how to help the university save money will be brought to the table at 2 p.m. Friday at the Council on University Budget and Planning meeting in Room 1895 of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

Kathleen Shank, the sit-in chair for the CUPB, said members were asked to brainstorm ideas for bringing in revenue in case the university does not receive funding.

“We need to come up with other sources of revenue and ways to recapture funds,” Shank said. “What else is there to do? Are there places or certain areas to recapture funds? How else could we save money?”

Shank said President David Glassman has been open and honest with the university regarding the budgetary issues.

The state is going on nine months without a budget, and as a result the university has not received state funding.

“I believe we’re doing the best we can. We’re all a part of this,” Shank said.

Shank said helping with the budget situation is a university effort and finding ideas on how to save money helps.

She said the ideas will be shared at the meeting and no judgments will be passed.

“We’ll accept each other’s ideas and there will be some that may offer something we didn’t think of,” Shank said.

Shank said the agenda for Thursday’s meeting will not be very full.

Other than the brainstorming, Shank said there will be administration reports from the president and vice presidents and a facilities report from Tim Zimmer, the director of facilities and management.

Shank said though it will not be a long meeting, it would wonderful if members brought enough ideas so they could spend an extensive amount of time discussing their options.

As for being the sit-in chair for the CUPB, Shank said she hopes the former chair, David Emmerich, returns.

“I’m looking at it as if I’m just going to do this tomorrow only,” Shank said. “I’m hoping Mr. Emmerich comes back. He has so much to offer to this university.”

Emmerich was one of the 177 civil service employees laid off this semester.

“The staff are the infrastructure of the university,” Shank said. “With each person we lose we lose a little bit of ourselves.”

Shank said the faculty will continue to provide a quality education, which is one thing the university prides itself in.

“The part that bothers me (about the budget impasse) is seeing students feel unsure about it all,” Shank said.

Analicia Haynes can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]