Inside Iowa State

March 31, 2006

Budget model development

Third report offers two models

by Anne Krapfl

A third report of Iowa State's Budget Model Development Committee, released last week, includes two budget model options and the recommendation that a year be added to the implementation process.

Originally, the plan was to create a new budget model by June 30, and use next fiscal year to prepare for full implementation to begin on July 1, 2007.

The committee still proposes to develop a new budget model by June 30. The additional time will be used to develop new data-capturing structures that better support the model under consideration, test and refine the model, and familiarize administrators and budget officers with the details of the new model. Thus, the FY09 budget, rather than the FY08 budget, would be the first to be developed using the new budget model.

What's new?

A key difference between the two models is how the university's central administration is supported. In one, all tuition dollars and the general university state appropriation are distributed to the units (colleges, centers, institutes) that generate that revenue. Those units in turn use a portion of the dollars to support a block labeled "university leadership." In the other model, a portion of tuition and the general university state appropriation go directly to the university leadership block -- with most still distributed to the colleges.

The university leadership block includes offices of the president, vice presidents for student affairs and business and finance; and the administrative, research and extension functions reporting to the vice president for academic affairs.

Among other differences in the two models are how campus services are categorized and paid for, and how the library is supported.

The third report is online at http://www.iastate.edu/~budgetmodel. It contains diagrams and explanations of both models, as well as an explanation of Iowa State's current budget model, for comparison.

President Gregory Geoffroy created the Budget Model Development Committee last fall and directed the team to develop an alternate model that would stimulate progress on the strategic plan, encourage multi-year planning, respond to student enrollment patterns and offer more flexibility.

Open forum April 4

The Budget Model Development Committee welcomes comments on its third report. E-mail your comments to: budgetmodel@iastate.edu, or present them at an April 4 campus forum, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. in 101 Carver Hall.

Third Report of the Budget Model Development Committee.