BUDGET DEVELOPMENT GUIDELINES
FISCAL YEARS 2012 and 2013
Presented at the Dec. 6 Town Hall Meeting
[The following is a]framework for developing the two-year FY2012-13 budget.
[Based on o]bjectives planned for the third and fourth years of the university’s strategic plan...
Some initiatives [below] require new funding, others may involve redeployment of existing resources.
Approved by the Board of Trustees in November 2010
1.AU Strategic Plan: objectives and targets to be aligned with two-year budget.
2. Pricing: 3.0% - 5.0%. Market-driven pricing for residence halls, WCL and business graduate programs.
3. Enrollment
-Market demands, selectivity and diversity, quality instruction and student experience.
-Competitive pricing, creative marketing and distance learning.
4. Academic Programs
- Expand graduate programs
- Revitalize Washington Semester programs and expand professional development and training programs
- Strengthen research functions to support high scholarly productivity among faculty
5. Competitive Faculty and Staff Salary and Benefits
6. Financial Aid, Library, Information Technology
7. Environmental Sustainability
8. Student Experiences
9. Facilities development strategy to integrate 2011 Campus Plan and the strategic plan
10. Financial safeguards to protect the university
11. Institutional expenditures
12. New revenue through innovations
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Budget Calendar
The following budget calendar was presented at
Town Hall Meeting:
Development of Next Two-Year Budget
FY2012 and FY2013December 6, 2010
Presented by:
Scott A. Bass, Provost
and
Don Myers, CFO, Vice President and Treasurer
September – October 2010
President appoints University Budget Committee (UBC).
Provost and CFO, Vice President and Treasurer lead budget meetings with the campus community.
UBC recommends budget development guidelines to the President.
November 2010
President issues strategic objectives and budget call to President’s Cabinet (November 4, 2010).
President requests input from campus community regarding strategic plan objectives for consideration in budget (November 11, 2010).
President presents budget criteria to the Board of Trustees Finance and Investment Committee (November 18-19, 2010).
Provost formulates undergraduate and graduate enrollment projections.
December 2010
Provost and CFO, Vice President and Treasurer lead budget meetings with the campus community.
Faculty Senate confers with the Provost on academic affairs budget.
January 2011
President’s Cabinet submits budget proposal to the President (January 7, 2011).
President holds campus community meeting regarding strategic plan and objectives for consideration in budget.
Budget Office submits summary of budget proposals to the President and UBC.
UBC reviews budget proposals and submits a set of recommendations to the President.
February 2011
President consults with the President’s Cabinet and presents proposed budget to the BOT Finance and Investment Committee.
Board of Trustees approves budget for FY2012 and FY2013 (February 24-25, 2011).
March 2011
Approved budget summary is published for the campus community.
President communicates budget allocations to the Provost and Vice Presidents.
April 2011
Line-item budgets are sent to units for the new budget year.
Units submit line-item budgets to the Budget Office in light of approved budget allocations.
May 1, 2011
New fiscal year begins.
Town Hall Meeting:
Development of Next Two-Year Budget
FY2012 and FY2013December 6, 2010
Presented by:
Scott A. Bass, Provost
and
Don Myers, CFO, Vice President and Treasurer
September – October 2010
President appoints University Budget Committee (UBC).
Provost and CFO, Vice President and Treasurer lead budget meetings with the campus community.
UBC recommends budget development guidelines to the President.
November 2010
President issues strategic objectives and budget call to President’s Cabinet (November 4, 2010).
President requests input from campus community regarding strategic plan objectives for consideration in budget (November 11, 2010).
President presents budget criteria to the Board of Trustees Finance and Investment Committee (November 18-19, 2010).
Provost formulates undergraduate and graduate enrollment projections.
December 2010
Provost and CFO, Vice President and Treasurer lead budget meetings with the campus community.
Faculty Senate confers with the Provost on academic affairs budget.
January 2011
President’s Cabinet submits budget proposal to the President (January 7, 2011).
President holds campus community meeting regarding strategic plan and objectives for consideration in budget.
Budget Office submits summary of budget proposals to the President and UBC.
UBC reviews budget proposals and submits a set of recommendations to the President.
February 2011
President consults with the President’s Cabinet and presents proposed budget to the BOT Finance and Investment Committee.
Board of Trustees approves budget for FY2012 and FY2013 (February 24-25, 2011).
March 2011
Approved budget summary is published for the campus community.
President communicates budget allocations to the Provost and Vice Presidents.
April 2011
Line-item budgets are sent to units for the new budget year.
Units submit line-item budgets to the Budget Office in light of approved budget allocations.
May 1, 2011
New fiscal year begins.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Reflections on pre-meeting & meeting with provost
I did not have an opporunity to directly ask my questions (listed in previous post) during the meeting. It seemed from conversation that the senate website contains much outdated information.
The documents that have been distributed openly from the Univ. Budget Committee (calendar, priorities, example budget worksheets) are to be forwarded to me; I will make them public here.
The documents that have been distributed openly from the Univ. Budget Committee (calendar, priorities, example budget worksheets) are to be forwarded to me; I will make them public here.
Meeting with Provost began at 2:20
Senate leadership summarized past process in which administration has presented Senate with priorities for comment.
Provost indicated that the budget has become very complex and detailed, implying that he did not have the capability to share the infomation, get feedback, and refine in a reasonable amount of time.
Vi Ettle noted that priorities were vetted with the Senate Committee and Senate in the past; however, this step was skipped this year.
Regarding specifics of this cycle: the Provost noted that his priorities are to finish what has been started since the adoption of the strategic plan.
Currently the Provost's office is going line-by-line through the requests of academic units.
---
The chair asked (Q); the provost answered (A)
Q: What can the committee do to assist in this process this year?
A: Once we come up with the budget, what would be useful is for faculty to support requests from "non-academic" units that are directly related to academic needs, even if that means cuts in places we might care about. But the provost would NOT support the involvement of the committee in the preparation of the academic budget, but offered to SHARE his report to the president with the committee on 1/10/11. The committee could then review the provost's budget on 1/14, meet with the provost on 1/17, and report to the senate on 1/19.
Q: Going forward, how do we restructure the committee in order to be involved in our support of academic priorities.
A: Suggested that faculty on the senate committee seek involvement at the college/unit level and share information with each other in an ongoingway. Did not have a clear idea of a way that a UNIVERSITY budget committee could have meaningful input at the provost's level.
Provost indicated that the budget has become very complex and detailed, implying that he did not have the capability to share the infomation, get feedback, and refine in a reasonable amount of time.
Vi Ettle noted that priorities were vetted with the Senate Committee and Senate in the past; however, this step was skipped this year.
Regarding specifics of this cycle: the Provost noted that his priorities are to finish what has been started since the adoption of the strategic plan.
Currently the Provost's office is going line-by-line through the requests of academic units.
---
The chair asked (Q); the provost answered (A)
Q: What can the committee do to assist in this process this year?
A: Once we come up with the budget, what would be useful is for faculty to support requests from "non-academic" units that are directly related to academic needs, even if that means cuts in places we might care about. But the provost would NOT support the involvement of the committee in the preparation of the academic budget, but offered to SHARE his report to the president with the committee on 1/10/11. The committee could then review the provost's budget on 1/14, meet with the provost on 1/17, and report to the senate on 1/19.
Q: Going forward, how do we restructure the committee in order to be involved in our support of academic priorities.
A: Suggested that faculty on the senate committee seek involvement at the college/unit level and share information with each other in an ongoingway. Did not have a clear idea of a way that a UNIVERSITY budget committee could have meaningful input at the provost's level.
continued
Chair indicated that the “biggest contribution” the committee could make this year is to get changes to the by-laws that will be respected by the administration with the aim of being “plugged in” to the on-going process.
Chair read from an e-mail exchange between him and the Provost but I could not follow it clearly. I requested a forward from the chair.
Chair read from an e-mail exchange between him and the Provost but I could not follow it clearly. I requested a forward from the chair.
continued
The discussion of the pre-meeting revolved around FUTURE changes in the organization of the committee vis-a-vis the univ budget committee.
Senate leadership noted that President Kerwin’s administration is more receptive to faculty input. In the past the Univ. Budget Committee had little faculty representation; this year it has representatation of four faculty members.
Strategic plan goals led to the development of the administration’s instructions to Deans. This year’s budget development guidelines were developed by the Univ. Budget Committee. Last week Dean’s began submitting budget requests.
It seems that the on-line description of the Senate Committee’s role is totally out of date.
Current budget calendar (?) has a role for Senate, but it has apparently overlooked.
It seems that some members of the committee--including me--have not been receiving e-mails.
Strategic plan goals led to the development of the administration’s instructions to Deans. This year’s budget development guidelines were developed by the Univ. Budget Committee. Last week Dean’s began submitting budget requests.
It seems that the on-line description of the Senate Committee’s role is totally out of date.
Current budget calendar (?) has a role for Senate, but it has apparently overlooked.
It seems that some members of the committee--including me--have not been receiving e-mails.
Notes of Pre-meeting 12/7 1:30 pm
These are notes from the organizational pre-meeting.
Most of the committee was in attendance; 2 were on the phone.
Most of the committee was in attendance; 2 were on the phone.
More searching
The Eagle online for 9/27/10 notes "The University Budget Committee, chaired by Vice President of Finance Donald Myers and Provost Scott Bass, will begin its work on the two-year budget. The Board will see suggested guidelines at its November meeting, and the specifics will be presented at the February meeting.
The University Budget Committee was formed at last week’s Board of Trustees meetings. They will finalize the University’s budget for fiscal years 2012 and 2013 by February.
Co-chairs:
•Scott Bass — Provost
•Donald Myers — Vice President of Finance Treasurer
Members:
•Daniel Mullins — Chair of the Committee on Academic Budget and Benefits, Faculty Senate and Associate Professor in the School of Public Affairs
•John Douglass — Associate Professor in the School of Communication
•Victoria Connaughton — Associate Professor in the College of Arts and Sciences Biology Department
•Stephen Silvia — Associate Professor in the School of International Service
•Douglas M. Hale — Vice Chair of the School of International Service Graduate Leadership Council
•Khalid Khalid — Assistant Dean in the Washington College of Law
•Gail Hanson — Vice President of Campus Life
•Kamalika Sandell — Senior Director of Enterprise Systems, IT
•Wayne Wright — Staff Council representative of Facilities Management
Resource Persons:
•Nana An — Executive Director of Budget and Payroll
•Violeta Ettle — Associate Provost for Administration
•Karen Froslid Jones — Director of the Office of Institutional Research & Assessment"
SOURCE: University Communications.
(http://www.theeagleonline.com/news/story/board-of-trustees-discuss-wonks-campus-plan-and-anewau/)
This is the only online mention of the committee or its activities that I have been able to find.
The University Budget Committee was formed at last week’s Board of Trustees meetings. They will finalize the University’s budget for fiscal years 2012 and 2013 by February.
Co-chairs:
•Scott Bass — Provost
•Donald Myers — Vice President of Finance Treasurer
Members:
•Daniel Mullins — Chair of the Committee on Academic Budget and Benefits, Faculty Senate and Associate Professor in the School of Public Affairs
•John Douglass — Associate Professor in the School of Communication
•Victoria Connaughton — Associate Professor in the College of Arts and Sciences Biology Department
•Stephen Silvia — Associate Professor in the School of International Service
•Douglas M. Hale — Vice Chair of the School of International Service Graduate Leadership Council
•Khalid Khalid — Assistant Dean in the Washington College of Law
•Gail Hanson — Vice President of Campus Life
•Kamalika Sandell — Senior Director of Enterprise Systems, IT
•Wayne Wright — Staff Council representative of Facilities Management
Resource Persons:
•Nana An — Executive Director of Budget and Payroll
•Violeta Ettle — Associate Provost for Administration
•Karen Froslid Jones — Director of the Office of Institutional Research & Assessment"
SOURCE: University Communications.
(http://www.theeagleonline.com/news/story/board-of-trustees-discuss-wonks-campus-plan-and-anewau/)
This is the only online mention of the committee or its activities that I have been able to find.
Searching for background
I just tried searching AU's beta version of the faculty Sharepoint portal for links on the public page or existing portal pages that included the word "university budget committee". From the portal links hits for forms and a couple of year end budget forum presentations. From the public web site there were several links to the committee's activites from two years ago, but none for this year. The budget office link had only out of date information.
Monday, December 6, 2010
First meeting scheduled for 12/7
The first meeting is scheduled for tomorrow 12/7/10. I cannot attend the meeting in person, but have requested electronic access.
My questions are:
#1: The committee rules say: "chair is to be elected by the membership of the committee from its faculty members" Since this is our first meeting, shouldn't our first order of business be to elect a chair? Related: There is a chair listed; how was this chair selected?
#2: Is there a member of the committee serving on the University Budget Committee at this time? If yes, would that person please summarize the meetings of the University budget committee to date.
#3: Questions about the charge
From http://www.american.edu/facultysenate/budget-benefits-committee.cfm:
"The committee is responsible for reviewing the budget guidelines each year (*) and making recommendations to the Senate for legislation concerning the budget (**). The committee considers all financial matters pertaining to the academic programs and faculty of the university (***) and is authorized by the Senate to request financial data (****)....The committee also considers the physical plant operations and services in support of the academic programs of the university. The committee makes recommendations for space allocations and considers and makes recommendations regarding priorities for investment in all facilities used to advance the academic mission of the university (*****)
* Where can we find the CURRENT budget guidelines?
** What responsiblity has been ceded to the faculty? Where can we actually make a difference?
*** Should we be "considering" only instructional matters (as the main faculty governance document suggests" or is "academic" interpreted to mean matters that include research? that include new tenure-track lines?
**** I would like to move that we be briefed on the current budget and compare it to the previous budget.
***** How has this committee been involved in the campus plan? How will it be involved in the space utilization group that is being organized and chaired by direct reports to the provost?
My questions are:
#1: The committee rules say: "chair is to be elected by the membership of the committee from its faculty members" Since this is our first meeting, shouldn't our first order of business be to elect a chair? Related: There is a chair listed; how was this chair selected?
#2: Is there a member of the committee serving on the University Budget Committee at this time? If yes, would that person please summarize the meetings of the University budget committee to date.
#3: Questions about the charge
From http://www.american.edu/facultysenate/budget-benefits-committee.cfm:
"The committee is responsible for reviewing the budget guidelines each year (*) and making recommendations to the Senate for legislation concerning the budget (**). The committee considers all financial matters pertaining to the academic programs and faculty of the university (***) and is authorized by the Senate to request financial data (****)....The committee also considers the physical plant operations and services in support of the academic programs of the university. The committee makes recommendations for space allocations and considers and makes recommendations regarding priorities for investment in all facilities used to advance the academic mission of the university (*****)
* Where can we find the CURRENT budget guidelines?
** What responsiblity has been ceded to the faculty? Where can we actually make a difference?
*** Should we be "considering" only instructional matters (as the main faculty governance document suggests" or is "academic" interpreted to mean matters that include research? that include new tenure-track lines?
**** I would like to move that we be briefed on the current budget and compare it to the previous budget.
***** How has this committee been involved in the campus plan? How will it be involved in the space utilization group that is being organized and chaired by direct reports to the provost?
Purpose of this blog
I am serving on American University's Faculty Senate Budget & Benefits committee this year. The purpose of this blog is to provide a public record of the activities of the committee so that faculty will understand how involvement on this senate committee impacts (or fails to impact) resource allocation on campus.
AU operates on a two-year budget cycle. The budget that is set during the next few months will cover May 2011-April 2013.
The structure of the faculty senate is described here: http://www.american.edu/facultysenate/governance.cfm (I am serving on the standing committee which is here called the "Committee on *Instructional* Budget and Benefits"
The current membership and charge of the committee is here: http://www.american.edu/facultysenate/budget-benefits-committee.cfm
AU operates on a two-year budget cycle. The budget that is set during the next few months will cover May 2011-April 2013.
The structure of the faculty senate is described here: http://www.american.edu/facultysenate/governance.cfm (I am serving on the standing committee which is here called the "Committee on *Instructional* Budget and Benefits"
The current membership and charge of the committee is here: http://www.american.edu/facultysenate/budget-benefits-committee.cfm
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