Draft 2011-13 Operating Budget for Western

Colleagues:

With the need for the recently concluded special legislative session, our usual process for sharing a draft 2011-13 operating budget was thrown a kilter. Nevertheless, the campus has been kept informed through various reports. And, the University Planning and Resources Council (UPRC) has been continually engaged through presentations by vice presidents on behalf of their divisions, open forums for feedback from the campus community, and as recipients of a confidential briefing by me and by the vice presidents on draft operating budget numbers.

We do not have a state budget until the Governor signs it into law. That is scheduled to occur on June 15th. Normally, we would wait until the state budget is final before providing a draft of Western`s 2011-13 operating budget for the campus to consider. But, we will also need to present our thinking on a 2011-13 operating budget to our Trustees at their meeting on June 10th.

We certainly want the campus to have the first opportunity to see what we will be outlining for the Board. So, we have scrapped plans to wait until we have a final state budget. You can find the draft operating budget we will be discussing with the Board at this link.

Obviously, should the Governor, through vetoes, significantly alter the budget picture for Western, we would have to go back to the drawing board; we have no reason to expect such alterations.

Please also understand this: The Board, as is always the case, approves an authorized level of expenditure based on our budget presentations. The details are delegated and so, through the middle of June, we will be continuing to seek advice and recommendations from campus.

As in the past, the vice presidents and I will rely heavily on the counsel and insights of the UPRC. Please do feel free to share your thoughts with your representative on the UPRC, with your dean or vice president, or through the budget discussion forum on Viking Village.

It has been a long road to get to this point. As you will see in the budget summary, prospects as we go ahead are brighter than they appeared to be back in January. This is, in part, the result of your hard work. And, also, your patience. Thank you for both.

Best,
Bruce