The Parallel Year of the Budget Model Redesign began on July 1, 2025 (the start of Fiscal Year 2026). The Implementation Year is anticipated to begin on July 1, 2026 (start of FY27), and preparations for the Implementation Year will begin in Fall 2025.
Also in Fall 2025, the Budget Model Redesign Committees look forward to sharing more details about the new budget model with campus.
Colorado State University recognizes a need to design and implement a new budget model that will further the financial prioritization of our mission areas as well as proactively support growth and success in the ever-changing landscape of higher education.
The process of renewing our budget model will involve broad faculty, staff, and student engagement in conversations about future possibilities with CSU’s best interest in mind. It will allow us to shift from our current incremental budget to a model shaped by guiding values that enables continued alignment with our land-grant mission. The process of the Budget Model Redesign will enable us as a University community to collectively define a path forward that provides our colleges, centers, and divisions greater opportunity to invest strategically.
With input and representation from the University community, the process to design a new model will be future-focused, support entrepreneurial thinking, and foster adaptability to keep CSU competitive, enabling us to continue delivering on our mission of access and inclusive excellence, high-quality educational experiences, outreach and engagement, and unmatched research excellence with impact reaching around the globe. We aspire to build a new budget model that permits stronger avenues for creativity and discovery and increased agility while improving fiscal responsibility and transparency in our financial decision-making processes.
After launching the Budget Model Redesign in Spring 2023, CSU leadership initiated Phase One of the redesign by meeting with professional consultants and representatives from other universities to learn about the budget model landscape in higher education, some best practices for budget remodeling, and lessons learned during similar processes at peer institutions.
At the start of the fall semester, CSU transitioned out of the initial Research Phase and into Phase Two, a period of planning and diagnostics. Within this phase there were extensive stakeholder meetings, community fora, internal and external data collection, and the charging and determination of responsibilities of the Budget Model Redesign committees. The Planning and Diagnostic Phase laid the foundation for creating a budget model to best support our University’s values and land-grant mission.
Whereas phases one and two focused on gathering information and input, phase three commences committee work on designing a new budget model for CSU. The Design Phase will include continued communication with our community and the utilization of the data and feedback gathered to inform preliminary budget model prototypes. The committees, which reflect the University community and our shared governance, will work collaboratively and will regularly report their progress in designing a CSU-specific budget model proposal.
NOTE: Please see the Updates page for the latest information.
Phase Four is Universitywide preparation for implementing the new budget model in a Learning Year. The Steering and Technical committees will finalize their recommendations for an initial budget model, and a budget model prototype will be decided upon by the Executive Sponsor Committee. The Steering Committee will host public fora to engage with and provide updates to the campus community about the prototype budget model and the Learning Year process (dates and times are forthcoming). Work will commence for an expected October 2024 launch of Phase 5: the Learning Year, with broad training and implementation sessions to aid the campus community in acclimating to the prototype budget model.
During the Learning Year, learning and listening will continue. Campus budget team members will collect data to provide feedback to our committees, who will make informed suggestions for modifications and improvements to the prototype budget model.
It is anticipated that the revised budget model candidate will be in place by early Spring 2025, and our Parallel Year* will launch in FY26, beginning July 1, 2025. In the Parallel Year, campus entities will receive at least as much funding as they did in the previous fiscal year to create budget stability while the new budget model is assessed. The Budget Model Redesign committees will remain engaged throughout so that adjustments and modifications can be made as needed.
*A Parallel Year describes the application of the new model as a test run before implementation. The new model will run on “paper” via accounting and budget software, parallel to the continued execution of the traditional incremental budget. The new model will not yet be “live.” This is done to test the new budget model, its formulas, and allocation methodologies based on guiding values, and to identify any needed tweaks before the new model replaces the incremental model in the following fiscal year.
