Budget process reiterated as University enters 2009

This Friday Focus provides an update for you on the budget and the budget process for the University.

The Executive Budget Committee (EBC) met this week (January 5) for the purpose of discussing the current budget situation. No recommended revisions to the current budget or to the already announced budget decisions for this year were made. We agreed that we would not meet next week (January 12) because of the likelihood that Governor Jay Nixon's recommendations for the upcoming budget would not be known until later in this month.

I also wanted to remind you of the budget process that we have used each of the past three years and that we will use again this year. I created the Executive Budget Committee in 2005, my first year as President, as a vehicle for giving the administration, and representatives of the faculty, staff, and students an opportunity to monitor the University's budget on approximately a monthly basis and to discuss and make recommendations to me concerning budget priorities for the upcoming year. In that capacity, the Committee has an opportunity to review the budget requests and priorities that the Vice Presidents and the Provost submit to me each year.

Prior to 2005, no such regular on-going vehicle existed at Missouri State University. Along with the Vice Presidents and Provost, the Committee's membership includes the President of Student Government Association, the Chair of the Faculty Senate, and the Chair of the Staff Senate. In addition, in order to increase the faculty's involvement in the committee, an additional member of the faculty has been included via Faculty Senate nomination. Those representatives have been Dr. John Hoftyzer (Fiscal Year 2007), Dr. Tom Wyrick (Fiscal Year 2008), and Dr. Jim Lampe (Fiscal Year 2009).

Each year, following a series of meetings with the Executive Budget Committee, I have presented recommendations for the next year's budget to an open and joint meeting of the Faculty and Staff Senates in March or April. Following that presentation, changes to my recommendations have been made as a result of input from the campus. In May, I present the revised budget recommendation to the Board of Governors for their consideration. The Board of Governors takes no action at that meeting. It waits until the June meeting for a final vote. The budget proposal presented to the joint meeting of the Faculty and Staff Senates are posted on the University's web page for comment. The same steps will be used this year, along the same timelines.

Also as a reminder, I have announced the budget containment steps the University has taken this year as a precautionary action against the budget difficulties with which the state is struggling. Those steps and the dates on which they were announced are listed on our Financial Outlook web site. No other budget reductions or containment actions are anticipated unless they would become necessary as a result of recommended changes in our state appropriation by state officials.

1. On November 26, in the November 2008 Friday Focus, I indicated that we would prioritize open positions with an eye toward filling the top third, proceeding cautiously with the middle third, and likely forgoing the bottom third. I also indicated that I was hopeful that we would not suffer any holdback in our appropriation for the current year (Fiscal Year 2009).
2. On December 5, the following decisions were posted:
   1. Expenditures for maintenance and repair, other than those addressing life safety, were postponed.
   2. Classroom improvement projects were suspended.
   3. International travel funded through the University's General Fund was discontinued, except for specific approvals by me of travel funds that had already been encumbered (comprised of state appropriations and student tuition).
   4. The Provost, Deans, Department Heads and Directors were to review all domestic travel funded by the General Fund to determine if it is necessary and appropriate. Travel that does not meet this threshold should not occur.
   5. The Provost, Deans, Department Heads and Directors were to review and be conservative with all discretionary use of General Funds related to their units.
3. On December 18, I informed you that in addition to those steps already announced concerning cutbacks on expenditures for maintenance and repair, classroom improvements, international travel, and discretionary projects, I was implementing further cost-containment steps in consultation with the Provost and Vice Presidents. Specifically, the University did not plan to fill approximately 10 positions that were then vacant in various administrative and campus support units. Suspension or elimination of these positions is associated with about $400,000 in annual salaries; these open positions include the Associate Vice President for Administrative Services, an Internal Auditor, the Assistant Director of Multicultural Services, and the Assistant Director of Safety and Transportation. I also indicated that throughout all of the University, the Deans and unit Directors would scrutinize all open positions carefully and were not hiring into those positions unless they are judged to be absolutely critical to unit missions.
4. On December 22, I outlined the process that I plan to use for planning our budget should there be a need for any additional actions concerning a budget reduction. Here are the applicable steps in that process:
   1. The EBC will begin meeting weekly or at least once every two weeks following the re-opening of the University in January. The Committee agreed that a more frequent meeting schedule would enable us to generate and evaluate more alternative approaches to our budget requirements. As I have done during the past month, I will inform the campus of any decisions that result from those meetings.
   2. The EBC has recommended that, with the help of input that we are receiving from our University colleagues, we assess a number of potential cost-cutting and revenue-generating strategies that could be implemented if necessary.
   3. Should any revisions to the University's budget be necessary either for Fiscal Year 2009 (current year) or Fiscal Year 2010, we will then be in a position to share these ideas with the campus through a variety of mechanisms, including Friday Focus, town meetings, and e-mail updates.
   4. These various forms of communication will allow the University community to offer recommendations, guidance, and opinions prior to implementing any budgetary changes that might be called for.

As is always the case, I welcome your feedback. Send Comments to the President's Office