FY 1999 Proposed Budget
Introduction
This is the second year for campus-wide participation in the budget process. The experiences from the first year resulted in much more advanced planning and participation this year in the generation of requests and proposals from across the campus for the Cabinet to consider at the beginning of its deliberations.
The allocations which have been made represent budget additions from projected new revenue. Final decisions by the General Assembly and Governor, as well as changes in enrollment, could necessitate changes.
Not included in what follows are additions for salary increases. We do expect, based on the Governor’s recommendations, full funding of the salary bill in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement. An additional item in the Governor’s Budget not reflected here is a recommendation of $500,000 to implement the Pomerantz Commission recommendation on excellence in education.
Each division also will be expected to target reallocations of at least two percent toward achievement of our strategic planning goals.
Projected Income
Principal sources of income are state appropriations and tuition. The Governor’s budget recommendations for UNI, exclusive of salary increases, provide an additional $519,316 to our base budget. This compares to a request by the Regents for UNI of $2.9 million. Tuition income is projected to provide an additional $1,187,000. Of this, 19 percent ($225,500) is designated for student aid by current practice. The total new revenue projected is $1,706,316.
Proposed Expenditures
The Cabinet proposes to distribute the funds as follows:
| Amount | Purpose | Comment |
| $250,000 | Five additional faculty for general education | Supports Goal 1 of the Strategic Plan. Academic priority. |
| $225,500 | Student Aid Set-Aside | Of this amount the following will be earmarked: $100,000, Diversity Scholarships; $60,000, international scholarships for UNI students outbound; $37,000, international scholarships for UNI students inbound |
| $164,100 | Improving undergraduate education | Governor’s Budget: For instructional equipment support. Regents request was for $500,000. Academic priority. |
| $160,000 | International Student Services | Governor’s Budget: Includes $100,000 of the Regents request for $400,000, and an additional $60,000 is provided. Supports Goal 2 of the Strategic Plan. |
| $130,206 | Supplies and Services Inflationary Adjustment | Represents a 1.5% increase to deal with inflationary increases. This is consistent with Goals 1 and 3 of the Strategic Plan. |
| $100,000 | Matching funds for grant applications | To provide incentives for increased grants activity. Supports Goal 1 of the Strategic Plan. Academic priority. |
| $100,000 | Inflation on Library materials | Governor’s Budget: Represents only half of the Regents request |
| $89,316 | Salary Annualization | Governor’s Budget: Required for merit employee salary increases |
| $65,900 | Opening costs for Wellness/Recreation Center | Governor’s Budget: Represents remaining amount not funded in FY98 for utility and maintenance costs |
| $60,000 | Instructional support for outreach | Staff position in Continuing Education to assist faculty in course development to reach off-campus audiences. Supports performance indicator for Goal 1. Proposed by the Distance Education Task Force. Academic priority. |
| $60,000 | Performing Arts Center | Staff support |
| $55,186 | Diversity Initiatives | Implement recommendations from the Diversity Task Force to improve recruitment and retention, consistent with Goal 2 of the Strategic Plan and its performance indicator |
| $55,000 | Controller’s Office staff accountant ($35,000) and Supplies and Services ($20,000) | This is to cover a new expense necessary to comply with federal reporting mandates associated with the Hope Scholarship Program and Lifetime Learning Tax Credits and accommodate growth in demand on the Controller’s Office for services. |
| $50,000 | Building repairs | To enable progress on the performance indicator for Goal 3. |
| $35,775 | Library: Lexus Nexus Universe | Supports Goal 1 of the Strategic Plan. Academic priority. |
| $35,000 | Counseling Center staff position | Supports Goal 2 and meets student needs |
| $27,908 | Commencement | This increase reflects the true costs for commencement |
| $20,000 | Market Research | To support outreach, student recruitment, and external relations activities, a performance indicator in Goal 4. |
| $15,000 | Iowa State Fair Booth | Supports Goal 4 external relations activities |
| $7,425 | Northern Iowa Today | Increased production/mailing costs to serve a growing alumni population |
A sizable number of items relate to unavoidable or nondiscretionary cost increases. The items funded represent priorities of the strategic plan, the performance indicators presented to the Board of Regents, and the highest priorities of divisions of the university. The total dollars requested from all areas of the campus were several times greater than the total funds projected to be available.
A major nondiscretionary budget item not reflected in this budget proposal is the need for new administrative systems software (human resources, payroll, general ledgers, purchasing, accounts payable, and budget). This will require a multi-year financing plan once the appropriate software is identified. The Cabinet has committed use of contingency funds remaining from FY98 to begin this process.
The Cabinet sincerely appreciates the thoughtful deliberations by the campus community during the proposal process.
Consultation Process
As last year, each Vice President and the Director of External Relations will provide a consultative process to seek employee and student comment on the budget proposal. Each division is asked to report back to the full cabinet by March 2. In that report, each VP/Director will be asked to identify proposed changes in the university allocation. Reallocations within each division for FY99 should be reported by March 31.
After consideration of all comments, the Cabinet will publish a "near-final" draft to the WEB-site on March 24. There will be a one-week period for email input to this version. The final draft, to be presented to the Board of Regents, will be published on the WEB on April 8.
FY 2000 Requests
FY2000 budget requests should also be developed during this consultative process and forwarded by March 2. Most "business as usual" needs will fall into the internal reallocation process. Requests to the Board of Regents should reflect the strategic plan and be capable of generating political support.