President’s Report
given to the University Senate on November 27, 2006
submitted by President Leland
President Leland provided Senators with a brief update on the new University System of Georgia budget process. She noted, in particular, that the new process focuses on justifying the existing budget base in addition to new funding proposals.
All USG institutions were asked to analyze comparative budget information as part of the process of evaluating current funding levels. The main data source that is being used by the USG is known as the “Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System” (IPEDS). Information about IPEDS is available at http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/AboutIPEDS.asp.
President Leland noted that by almost all measures used in the IPEDS study, Georgia College appears to be somewhat under-funded in comparison to peer institutions at a national level. The only exception is in the area of instruction, and this difference is linked to the relatively low student/faculty ratio at GCSU in comparison to other Carnegie Masters I institutions.
The USG has assigned a budget analyst to each USG institution, and these budget analysts will develop a base budget recommendation for the university. The president noted that her initial meeting with the budget analyst assigned to Georgia College was productive. She stated that the analyst had carefully reviewed the data submitted by GCSU and clearly understood GCSU’s distinctive mission.
The president reminded Senators that Chancellor Davis is committed to using new formula funding to help achieve USG strategic priorities. This is a departure from past practice, where most formula funding was allocated for growth in student FTE. Although President Leland expects that responding to growth will remain one of the system’s strategic priorities, this new allocation strategy may have benefits for GCSU, depending on what the USG strategic priorities turn out to be. The Chancellor has initiated a strategic planning process, and President Leland anticipates that a new USG strategic plan will be in place by March of 2007.
This year, USG institutions were limited to requesting 5% above the current budget base in new funding. In addition, institutions were required to link each new funding request to institutional priorities and appropriate effectiveness measures. The President thanked Michael Gass for his assistance in identifying effectiveness measures that could be tracked using data currently available through the Office of Institutional Research.
The President noted that GCSU’s new funding request was based on the funding prioritization process engaged in during the previous academic year. That process culminated in public presentations of new funding needs by each school and division and an open meeting in which the President presented a list of funding priorities for discussion and feedback. In addition, the request includes dollars for faculty salary adjustments (to be determined as a result of the current faculty compensation study). More specific information was shared with the University Senate Budget and Planning Committee and should be available through its committee report.
President Leland also noted that she has again requested mission enhancement funding in excess of the 5% over base cap on new funding requests.
President Leland acknowledged that the new USG budget process and timelines made it impossible to follow the internal budget review process implemented last year. This year, institutions were given one month to prepare information on base funding as well as new funding requests. In the past, institutions had the entire fall semester to prepare budget information and this information was limited to new funding requests and did not include a justification of the existing base budget. The USG has indicated that in the future it will develop budget timelines that will allow campuses more opportunity for internal constituency consultation and review. The President noted that it might be necessary and desirable to modify internal processes for budget consultation and review (approved by the University Senate Budget and Planning Committee in 2005) once greater clarity is achieved about USG expectations and timelines for future budget review and new funding request cycles. As relevant information is received from the USG, it will be shared with the University Senate Budget and Planning Committee.
The President informed Senators that she would be participating on the Chancellor's Cabinet for a six month period as the elected representative of USG comprehensive university presidents. The President has also been asked to chair a USG strategic planning committee focused on undergraduate education.
The President concluded her report by noting that a website has been developed ( http://www.gcsu.edu/compensation/ ) to provide faculty and others with information on the faculty compensation study. President Leland stated that a number of institutions had requested extra time to complete faculty compensation surveys and that the deadline had been extended to January.