August 26, 2024

Dear Colleagues and Valued Members of Our CSU Community:

On behalf of the Budget Model Redesign Executive Sponsor Committee, we write to provide an update on the progress of CSU’s budget model redesign initiative, which began in 2023. This summer, members of the Steering and Technical Committees continued to work on a new budget model for our campus. We are grateful for their contributions, and want to share those outcomes with you.

• Specifically, the committees focused their work on refining some of the key parameters of the model and developing a model template. These key parameters include determining the percentage of model revenue which will be allocated to our academic and administrative units and a set of initial metrics which will inform the formulaic allocations of net residential instruction tuition revenue to academic units.
• Additionally, they discussed the importance of transparency, inclusivity, and strategy in development and implementation of a new budget model. Within subcommittees, the Steering and Technical Committees focused efforts on identifying and developing the tools necessary to enable strategic and fiscally informed decisions at the unit level. The work of the committees is ongoing and updates from their meetings can be found on the Budget Model Redesign website.

As an Executive Sponsor Committee, we feel it is important to give the CSU community an update about the timeline of the project. Collectively, our committees believe that continuous improvement is a foundational goal of our campus budget processes. We anticipate that our new budget model will continue to need revisions over time and have asked the Steering Committee to provide recommendations on an evaluation and revision process/timeline.

As we complete Phase 4 this fall, and conclude our preparations for the Learning  Budget Year (formerly known as the shadow year), we look forward to beginning Phase 5 in October. This is a shift from the original projected timeline which anticipated Phase 5 starting in July. (See the Overview & Process section on the budget model redesign website.)

Leading up to the Phase 5 launch of our Learning Year, the Steering Committee will engage with the campus community in public forums to provide updates about the prototype budget model and Learning Year process (dates and locations forthcoming). A Learning Year describes the application of the new model as a test run before implementation. This means the new budget model will run in parallel with the implemented budget, but the new model will not yet be “live.”

• During the Learning Year, our 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.
• We anticipate that by early Spring 2025, we will have a revised model in place and will launch our Hold Harmless Year in FY26, beginning July 1, 2025. Notably, our budget model revision committees will remain engaged throughout so that adjustments and modifications can be made as needed.

As a university community, we are committed to developing a budget model that aligns with our institutional priorities, our guiding values, and supports our land-grant mission. We are also committed to a process that is transparent, informed by our shared governance structures, and responsive to our evolving needs as a university.

We thank the multitude of campus members who have engaged in many ways in this process. We look forward to continued engagement this Fall and beyond.

On behalf of the Budget Model Redesign Executive Sponsor Committee,

Marion K. Underwood, Ph.D.
Provost and Executive Vice President