Inside Iowa State

November 4, 2005

Budget Talk

Teresa Paschke, faculty member in the art and design department, inquires about grade inflation as an undesirable but potential effect in budget models that reward units with high student enrollments. Paschke was one of about 55 faculty and staff who participated in a Nov. 1 university forum on budget modeling. It was hosted by the Budget Model Development Committee, charged by President Gregory Geoffroy with developing a new model for Iowa State by July 1, 2006 (implementation would begin a year later).

Committee member Mike Crum, College of Business, noted that most of the budget models at universities he and committee members have studied are not pure models, but hybrids developed out of a school's specific needs and goals. Pressed for details about the new budget model for Iowa State, Crum said, "We still have a lot of digging to do and a lot of minds on campus to pick to see how some of these different ideas would factor out."

Next in the process: Committee members will refine the objectives and principles in their first report (online at http://www.iastate.edu/~budgetmodel/05/octreport.shtml) and seek more feedback from the university community, most likely yet this semester. Photo by Bob Elbert.

Budget Model Development