Inside Iowa State

Aug. 24, 2007

Nuts and bolts of new budget model unfolding

by Anne Krapfl

Comments from the university community are sought on specific implementation recommendations - over time, dozens of them - that will move the new Resource Management Model from concept to reality.

In the process of implementing the new model, a group appointed last spring known as the Operations Team is dealing with the nuts and bolts of implementation. Smaller working groups make up the team, whose assignment is to modify the university's accounting system as needed and change university financial policies and procedures - for example, assigning general university building space or distributing indirect cost recovery revenue - to support the new model. Collectively, the groups have identified more than 100 questions or issues for study, most of which likely will generate a recommendation by the appropriate working group.

Since mid-July, working groups have been posting their recommendations for implementation issues on the budget model Web site. Recommendations remain online and available for comment by the university community for two weeks. Once the public review period has passed, a recommendation either goes back to the working group for refinement or is submitted to the provost for approval. Finally, recommendations are posted online again in their final, approved form. This process is expected to be ongoing at least through this academic year.

The first of the approved recommendations are available at the same Web site under "Approved Recommendations."

More reading available online

• David Maddox, of the BearingPoint consulting firm, submitted a report Aug. 15 to executive vice president and provost Elizabeth Hoffman on campus receptivity to the new Resource Management Model, readiness to implement it and recommendations on strategies for a smooth transition. Maddox's report is available online in PDF form. He and his colleagues spoke with more than 220 people on campus - administrators, staff and faculty - during June and July. The report summarizes his findings and recommendations.
• Beginning this month, associate vice president for budget and planning Ellen Rasmussen will provide a monthly progress report on implementation of the Resource Management Model to the Provost Academic Cabinet. Those reports will be posted online as they are completed at www.iastate.edu/~budget/PSRmenu.shtml.

Recommendations under review

Approved recommendations: