November 13, 2000
Work continues in shaping
FY 2000-01
By Jan Gleason
This year the University Ways and Means Committee is working with academic
and administrative leaders to identify funds for strategic initiatives
relating to Emorys academic mission. The committee has asked deans
and administrative heads to identify 3 percent of their current expense
budgets that could be reallocated to support new ideas and initiatives. Thus, according to the provosts office, the aspirations of the
faculty to develop new interdisciplinary programs, to cultivate a vigorous
intellectual community and to continue the work to internationalize Emory
may be funded, in part, by reallocating money from other activities. The
administration alone will not decide how to reallocate the funds; each
unit has the opportunity to suggest both where funds for reallocation
should come from and how they should be reinvested. This process will
not reduce the budget overall but will free some funds for investment
in new areas. Deans and administrative heads were advised last spring of this plan
in a letter from Provost Rebecca Chopp. The letter recognized that deliberate
and careful reallocation of our resources should allow Emory to sustain
the strategic improvements it wishes to make in the schools and in the
University as a whole. The institution has grown so rapidly in the past two decades,
said Charlotte Johnson, senior vice provost for administration, that
this planning strategy is about asking our deans, vice presidents and
directors to pause, look at their current activities, and ask, What
could we give up that we are currently doing and move those resources
to support higher institutional priorities? In early October, budget packages and detailed instructions were sent
out, and formal budget presentations began Nov. 9. Each dean and administrative
head will present his or her plan to the appropriate executive vice president.
Chopp will continue to meet with the Presidents Cabinet, Faculty
Council and the Council of Deans to seek input regarding budget priorities. In late November, the three executive vice presidentsChopp, Michael
Johns, executive vice president for health affairs, and John Temple, executive
vice president and chief operating officerpresent their preliminary
budget recommendations to their fellow Ways and Means Committee members.
These recommendations are incorporated into the budget model, which continues
to evolve through December and into January. All revenue sources and planned
expenditures are reviewed. During this portion of the budget development cycle, we have to
balance the budget and make thoughtful decisions about the investments
we make in initiatives that advance institutional priorities,Johnson
said. The rate of growth for our revenue streams has slowed, but revenues
are still increasing, said Edie Murphree, associate vice president
of administration. The University administration has anticipated this trend, which was a
contributing factor in the decision to develop a 3 percent reallocation
plan. Other factors included the need to include full-year operating costs
for several major new buildings, such as the Whitehead Research Building
and the Oxford Arts Center. The Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts
and Phase II of Science 2000 operations will need partial-year funding. Once Ways and Means develops a balanced budget, the Presidents
Cabinet, the Board of Trustees finance committee and finance/budget
subcommittee review it. The finance committee is responsible for making
the recommendation for approval to the full board at its February 2001
meeting. The need to set tuition rates and determine resources available for student financial aid packages dictates this time frame. Aid packages must be awarded in early spring in order for Emory to compete for the best students. |