Inside Iowa State

Jan. 27, 2006

Budget model development

Proposed model will be in committee's second report

by Anne Krapfl

A second report to the university community on developing a new budget model for Iowa State will be released in early February. The 10-member Budget Model Development Committee met weekly all fall and recently completed a 3-day work session to prepare the report.

Mark Chidister, assistant to the president for budget planning and analysis and committee chairman, said the report will contain two key elements:

• A narrative that addresses the issues and questions in the first report, based partly on feedback received to the committee's first (October) report. For example, there were questions about how to distribute indirect cost recovery revenues, fund centers and institutes, fund non-income generating support units and distribute tuition dollars, among many others.
• A first draft and diagram of the committee's proposal for a new budget model for Iowa State.

Chidister said the report will be distributed broadly, including on the ISU Web site. He said the committee invites feedback on the second report and will schedule another public forum for the university community (details to be announced).

The process

In September, President Gregory Geoffroy asked the group to develop a budget model for the university that stimulates progress on the university's new strategic plan, encourages multi-year planning, responds to student enrollment patterns and offers more flexibility.

The goal is to create and test a new budget model by July 1, 2006, and use next fiscal year to prepare for full implementation to begin on July 1, 2007.

The October report and other documents related to the budget model planning process are online at http://www.iastate.edu/~budgetmodel. Comments may be submitted to budgetmodel@iastate.edu.

Documents related to the budget model planning process are online . Comments may be submitted to budgetmodel@iastate.edu.