Colorado State University is hosting a series of Coffee Chats and Lunch & Listens to provide opportunities for the University community to learn about the Budget Model Redesign initiative and provide feedback.

The sessions are being led by Executive Vice President Rick Miranda, Vice President for University Operations and Chief Financial Officer Brandon Hanlon, and Presidential Fellows Rob Mitchell and Jennifer Martin. Dates, times and locations for these sessions are outlined in the information box at the bottom of this story and also are available on the initiative’s Campus Engagement web page.

Martin said the collaborative development of a new budget model that reflects the values and unique traits of CSU will require input from all.

“We have heard from peer institutions as well as EAB that campus engagement throughout the process is critical to its success,” said Martin, presidential fellow, and associate professor and extension specialist in the Department of Animal Sciences. “CSU has a history of involving the campus community in processes like this one that seek transformational impacts on our future.”

Oct. 25 opening forum well attended

The first open forum for the budget modeling initiative was held on Oct. 25 and was well attended. About 250 attendees joined the hybrid forum to learn about the budget modeling process, anticipated timeline, governance structure, and to offer feedback or ask questions.

“Having such a strong turnout at our opening forum and continued participation provides added robustness to the budget model redesign process, as feedback is provided to the committees that will be doing the work to move the process forward,” said Mitchell, presidential fellow and professor in the Department of Management. “Such engagement from the CSU community further supports the renewal of CSU’s land-grant mission.”

A recording of the session is posted online at: https://operations.colostate.edu/budget-model-redesign/campus-engagement/. 

Governance structure

The governance structure for the budget model redesign process will consist of an Executive Sponsor Committee, Steering Committee, and Technical Committee. The Executive Sponsor Committee is composed of a cross-section of executive leadership appointed by President Amy Parsons and charged to ensure the alignment of the budget model with the University vision and mission with a commitment to fostering innovation, transparency and financial sustainability.

The Steering and Technical committees, which are still being selected and will include both direct appointments and members selected through nominations, will reflect a variety of CSU perspectives, roles and experiences and promote balance and shared governance in the redesign process. The Steering Committee will collect and assess all campus feedback, and vet all budget model proposals presented by the Technical Committee.

“We have a lot of talent, expertise and passionate individuals to tap into across CSU to ensure the success of this initiative through the work of the committees and community feedback,” said Miranda. “The committees will include people with proficient knowledge of budget structures as well as those who understand our university’s culture, values and systems who can help guide us to the best possible outcome. That will require broad representation and a multitude of voices.”

The Steering and Technical committees are expected to be seated and charged in early November. For more information about the governance structure, visit: https://operations.colostate.edu/budget-model-redesign/committees-and-governance/.

Guiding principles

As its first order of business, the Executive Sponsor Committee adopted the below set of guiding principles to build trust and set the expectation that fiscal decisions will be made with the University’s best interest in mind. The principles were created with input from a variety of stakeholders.

A New Budget Model should:

• Be a tool to support and renew the core mission areas of the University in teaching, research, engagement, and inclusion, ensuring that resources are appropriately deployed to priority areas of demonstrated need.
• Foster trust in our fiscal decisions, through commitments to transparency, clarity, simplicity, consistency, accountability, and shared governance.
• Enhance our flexibility to empower local innovation, creativity, and responsibility while keeping the common good as our primary objective.
• Encourage collaboration, efficiency, productivity, performance, and quality, in service to our overall commitment to the success of our students and our ability to recruit, retain and reward faculty and staff.
• Retain capacity for making strategic investments to provide CSU clear pathways to excellence and growth.

“These guiding principles are designed to reflect the intent that all who contribute to or engage with this process act in good faith and are mindful that we all serve CSU and its mission,” said Miranda. “We come into this process already in a position of financial stability and elevated by a national and global reputation for exceptional teaching, research, outreach and inclusive excellence. But we know the higher education landscape is shifting beneath us and we want to make sure we can stay on top of the changes instead of chasing after them.”