Summer 2024 Steering Committee Updates

August 20, 2024

The Steering Committee held monthly meetings during summer 2024 to continue progress toward a new budget model for our campus. Rather than campus update emails, which occurred in Spring 2024, the Committee organized talking points at the conclusion of each meeting to highlight the themes and content of their conversation. Those talking points are below.

May 30:

The Steering Committee met on May 30 for its regular meeting. Committee members worked in small groups to begin to address budget allocation strategies for administrative units as well as financial and strategic tools and professional development needed to implement a new campus budget model.

  • Robust discussions were held around what a revised framework or approach for managing financial resources within the institution could potentially look like from the lens of present stakeholders.
  • As proposed from the last budget meeting on May 9, committee members worked in small groups to begin to address budget allocation strategies for administrative units.
    • Group discussions ranged within the topic of the need to incorporate new methodologies, metrics, or decision-making processes to better prioritize resource allocation and support strategic initiatives.
  • A consensus was concluded that a revised framework arises from the critical need to enhance transparency, efficiency, and alignment with institutional goals in budget allocation. Next steps include further refinement through stakeholder engagement and rigorous assessment to ensure optimal effectiveness and institutional buy-in.

June 21:

The Steering Committee met on June 21 for its regular meeting.

  • The Committee met with Vice President for Inclusive Excellence Kauline Cipriani to discuss ways to keep Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice centered and integrated into the strategies for the new budget model.
  • A representative from the Technical Committee provided an overview of the initial version of a potential model template.
  • The Committee received updates from the Executive Committee.

July 11:

The Steering Committee met on July 11 for its regular meeting.

  • The Steering Committee reviewed past work and reflected on allocation tool strategies.
  • The Committee was pleased with campus engagement in the process and talked about continued communication topics/strategies to keep campus informed as they start back up in the fall.
  • The Committee heard updates from the Executive Sponsor Committee and talked extensively about the role of subvention from a philosophical standpoint.
  • The Committee reviewed a summary of the work of two subcommittees (Strategic Acumen Subcommittee; Administrative Unit Allocation Subcommittee).  They discussed data/tools/metrics/strategies needed in both groups, and both subcommittees will meet to start developing these

August 1:

The Steering Committee met on August 1 for brief updates from the Committee members before convening four subcommittee meetings (Strategic Acumen Subcommittees and Administrative Unit Allocation Subcommittees)

  • The Steering Committee received updates from the Executive Sponsor Committee and Technical Committee.
  • The Subcommittees continued discussions on development of a strategic toolkit for unit and division leaders and potential parameters to inform administrative unit allocations.

Sincerely,

Steering Committee
CSU Budget Model Redesign Initiative

About CSU’s Budget Conversation Series

Colorado State University is inviting all faculty, staff, and students to engage in two different yet simultaneous series of campus conversations and listening sessions around the institution’s budget. The first series of conversations focuses on the University’s current budget for FY23-24 and FY24-25, referred to as the operating or Incremental Budget.

The second series of conversations focuses on options for renewing our budget model for an innovative future in alignment with our land-grant mission and institutional priorities. The goal is to design a budget model that enables greater creativity and increased agility while improving fiscal responsibility and transparency in our financial decision-making processes. This is what is referred to as the Budget Model Redesign.