Fiscal year 2014-15 campus operating budget processes coming to completion

Western Washington University President Bruce Shepard will present a recommendation for the FY2014-15 operating budget at the June Board of Trustees meeting, culminating the FY2014-15 budget process that started in January.

Due to the nature of Washington’s biennial budget process, much of the budget was already completed during last year’s planning process.  Last year, through Western's open, transparent and bottom-up process, the campus developed an operating budget for the current biennium. The Board of Trustees approved the first year of that two-year budget at a special meeting in July 2013.  This year’s budget process re-examined year two of that budget to see if there were adjustments, or “emergent issues,” that should be included in the FY2014-15 annual operating budget for the Board to act upon.

Campus planning unit leaders submitted proposals for emergent issue requests for the FY2014-15 operating budget in April after the legislative session ended.  Proposals were presented to the University Planning and Resources Council and audiocast to the campus with venues for feedback.  The vice presidents and deans evaluated all the requests and recommended a budget that includes funding for year three of the faculty contract commitment; raises salaries for the lowest paid classified staff and graduate teaching assistants; continues the approved compensation plan for professional and executive staff; supports student success and achievement; and finally, includes video service support.  The recommendations were presented to the UPRC and provided to campus. Comments were received on the Viking Village forum.

After considering the campus feedback, the president adopted the recommendations, but with a change.  Feedback from the campus regarding a reduction from the state in the amount of $31,000 for information technology efficiency was thought to be disproportionately assessed to Academic Technology and User Services. Since information technology is a campus-wide need and expenditure, any efficiencies that can be made to offset this cut will need to be made at the campus level rather than at a unit level. After consideration of this feedback, President Shepard decided to reduce the recurring contingency reserve by an additional $31,000 rather than reducing the budget for ATUS.

Two other items received noticeable campus comment through the process:

• Campus leadership heard and agree with the concern regarding potential unintended consequences of an additional 0.3-percent assessment on auxiliary and self-sustaining funds.  The president has agreed to fund the equivalent amount from one-time reserves for FY2014-15. A committee has been tasked with reviewing the impact of this assessment and recommending a plan for implementation or an alternative approach.
• Questions were raised on the effect that the proposed 3-percent tuition increase on non-resident undergraduate and resident graduate students would have on Western's ability to compete for those students. While no one likes to raise tuition for students, the proposed 3-percent increase in tuition for non-resident undergraduate and resident graduate students helps address emergent campus needs, including many important services to students.  These modest increases keep Western competitive with its peer groups, with its relative position remaining unchanged.  As deemed necessary, any potential loss of competitive position can be mitigated through the use of additional tuition waivers.

The president’s recommended FY2014-15 operating budget can be found here.  The Board of Trustees will consider the budget at its June meeting.

FY2015-17 Decision Packages Recommendation

Western has also been developing its request for state funds for the next biennium, FY2015-17.  Thirteen proposals were presented by the vice presidents to UPRC and the deans. After much discussion with UPRC and the Board of Trustees, the VPs and deans developed a recommendation for the president. Again, additional feedback from UPRC and the campus indicated good support for the recommendation. One area of note is the support for the “Big Data” proposal that would provide needed expertise to many areas on campus. The UPRC understands why it is not included in the state request but would like the proposal to be remembered next year as Western prepares its FY2015-17 budget. This feedback was well-received and provides campus leadership with another important consideration next year as they plan the FY2015-16 operating budget. The president’s preliminary recommendation goes to the Board in June. The final recommendation for the FY2015-17 budget request to the state will be presented for approval at the August Board of Trustees meeting.