State Request
- State Appropriatons are part of general funds.
- Budget negotiations occur at the state level with the Governor, the House and the Senate.
- Our role begins in the Fall before the Governor submits the Governor's Budget to the House.
- Ideally the budget would be finalized before the fiscal year (FY) begins - but that is not always the case.
- We work with the President's Office to forecast the state budget.
- Once the Governor has signed the state budget, the President of the UMass system notifies the campuses.
General Operations Funds Process
- Meanwhile the campus is analyzing our campus needs and projecting other revenues for the new FY.
- Vice Chancellors and the Provost work with deans and budget managers to assess needs and strategic goals.
- Once each area decides their pressing needs, the Chancellor weighs in. Preliminary budget decisions are made.
- These are finalized after the state appropriation is known and tuition and fees are voted.
Student Fee and Revenue Operations Process
- Tied into the State Request and General Operations processes is the Student Fee and Revenue Operation process.
- Some of our campus central revenue comes from student fees – what we charge for student fees contributes to how much revenue we’ll have for the new FY. An example is tuition.
- Student fee increases may provide more money, but they may also add a central campus expense for additional financial aid.
- Revenue operations could bring in funds to help offset departmental costs, but if they raise their fees too high they might lose business.
- We must look particularly at the total cost for students.
- The student fee and revenue operation process starts in the Fall preceding the new FY.
- They need to submit them up to the campus leadership. There are different deadlines for them to be in the Budget Office – but we should have all of the budgets by mid-February.
- After a thorough review the Budget Office makes recommendations to the Chancellor.
- Fees approved by the Chancellor are submitted to the President's Office for the early June Board of Trustees meeting.