July 28, 2009
Dear Colleagues,
The Faculty Senate, the Staff Senate, the Strategic Resource Allocation Committee, and I invite each of you to attend “A Report to the ULM Community,” a briefing on the FY 2009-2010 budget. The briefing is scheduled for Monday, August 3, from 3:30 until 5 p.m. in Brown Auditorium. I encourage each of you to attend.
In preparation for Monday’s meeting, I want to once again share the process we used to develop this year’s budget. As you will remember, we had a mid-year budget reduction of approximately $2.4 million in January. In March, we were notified of possible budget reductions of up to $8 million in the upcoming year’s (2009-2010) budget. At that time, we began to examine our operations and expenditure patterns. We began analyzing how to accomplish the significant proposed reductions while maintaining the academic integrity of the institution. The process we developed together is a model of efficiency and cooperation among all of the campus constituencies.
We began the process by asking each academic dean to develop scenarios that would accomplish a budget reduction of slightly more than anticipated. The same request was made of the four vice presidents and the athletic director. We asked for this level of cut so that there could be ample discussion of the planned reductions and options developed. The plans developed by the deans were reviewed, and in some instances, changed by the individual collegiate faculty budget committees. After the plans were thoroughly reviewed by the faculty budget committees, Provost Stephen Richters appointed an Academic Affairs Budget Committee whose charge was to review the collegiate cuts from a global university perspective.
The Administrative Budget Committee, chaired by Vice President for Business Affairs Dave Nicklas, reviewed the reduction plans developed by the vice presidents. The results of both committees were presented to the Strategic Resource Allocation Committee (SRAC), chaired by Dr. William McCown. During the course of several months and meetings, the SRAC heard from each academic dean, each vice president, and the athletic director. The SRAC thoroughly vetted the work of the various committees and made a series of recommendations. Finally, a joint committee comprised of representatives from the Faculty Senate, the Staff Senate, the SRAC, the Strategic Planning Committee, all of the academic deans and the vice presidents, reviewed a budget draft based on the discussions and recommendations of the various committees.
This extremely thorough process ensures that ULM is well positioned academically—in the face of current and future budget decisions by the state. I want to thank each of these groups for their hard work in helping the university weather this fiscal storm.
Please feel free to close your offices early Monday afternoon so that you can attend this important “Report to the ULM Community."
Sincerely,
Jim Cofer
President