Office of Budget and Financial Planning

The Budget Office was established in January 1980 as a unit attached to the Office of the Controller. Ten years later, the unit was restructured and emerged as the Office of Budget and Financial Planning, reporting directly to the executive vice president for administration and finance, to cope with the ever-growing needs of the University. Currently, the office is equipped with a high-caliber staff which includes a budget accountant, a budget clerk, a budget officer, a financial planning officer, an associate executive director and an executive director.

Mission

The principal mission of the University’s Office of Budget and Financial Planning is to develop annual and long-range University budgets for approval from the Board of Trustees and administer the budgets through the fiscal year. In this role, the Office of Budget and Financial Planning formulates annual and long-term revenue models and integrates expenditure priorities that are expressed in the University's strategic plan.

Another mission of this office is to originate research, develop analysis and provide recommendations to senior management on a wide variety of academic and financial issues that have a major impact on the University budget. These include budget proposal review of new academic programs, budget performance review, revenue/expense forecasts, market comparison and benchmarking study, and long-range budget planning. To serve these missions, the budget office plays an important role as a catalyst. The office works in collaboration with various constituencies, such as faculty committees, student governance organizations, deans, vice presidents, senior administrators and unit budget managers.

The budget development and management process at the University is participatory in nature. The University Budget Committee consists of members of the Finance Committee of the University Senate, students, staff members and administrators. The committee works together to formulate a budget proposal and makes recommendations to the president. The budget office is responsible for presenting the budget proposal to the Board of Trustees and disseminating budgetary information to the University community.

During the course of each fiscal year, the budget office prepares budget performance reviews to ensure adequate budgetary control and makes recommendations for budget modification.

Services

• Formulating annual and long-term revenue models and integrating expenditure
• Developing research and analysis, and providing recommendations to senior management on a wide variety of academic and financial issues that have a major impact on the University budget
• Budget proposal review of new academic programs
• Revenue and expense forecasts and budget performance review
• Conducting market comparison and benchmarking studies