The new campus budget model, approved in May 2022 by campus leadership, took effect as planned on July 1. 

The result of 18 months of work completed by campus leaders, deans, faculty, staff and students, the new campus budget model uses both quantitative and qualitative methods to allocate funding to colleges, schools and campus support units. School/college funding allocations are based on factors that include student credit hours taught, major enrollments and student retention and graduation. The new model also includes support to advance campus equity, diversity and inclusion priorities. 

In this first year of implementation, schools, colleges and campus support units will receive the same budget as in the year before, plus additional funds to cover merit and other increases. Known as a “hold harmless” year, this approach provides stability as the campus Budget & Fiscal Planning office and the Office of the Provost work closely with colleges and schools to help them adjust to the new model. 

According to Ann Schmiesing, executive vice provost for academic resource management, the hold harmless year also provides time for the development of structures that will support the budget model. “With the model built, we are now working with shared governance, deans, finance leaders and other stakeholders to develop processes, policies and tools needed to support the model and ensure it aligns with the university’s mission,” Schmiesing said.  

Ongoing work includes developing the structure the campus will use to determine priorities for the strategic fund, as well as the process that campus entities will use to request strategic fund resources. For the fiscal year that began July 1 and closes June 30, 2023, a portion of the strategic fund has already been earmarked to support the Chancellor’s Diversity Fund. 

Another example of work that will continue this year is developing the guidelines and processes by which supplemental funds are determined. An interactive flow chart of the model provides additional details about the strategic and supplemental funds, as well as other components of the model. 

Katrina Spencer, deputy chief financial officer for campus, points to a campuswide budgeting tool as an example of one of the structures needed to support easier budgeting on campus. 

“In interviews with stakeholders, we heard that a campuswide budgeting tool would help simplify reporting and eliminate existing shadow systems. We have convened a committee to review a request for proposals and hope to have a common budgeting tool in place within the next two years,” Spencer said. 

To learn more about how the new model was built and how it will work, and for information on the upcoming Coffee and the Campus Budget events that will take place this fall, visit the budget model redesign page.