VI. Strategic Investment Process
The Strategic Investment Process is included in the Texas State 2012-2017 University Plan in order to explain the budgeting process and highlight a number of ongoing priorities and critical new investments in programs and facilities that we must support financially if the plan is to succeed. This process, includes periodic presentations and written updates on budget allocation, informs internal and external audiences about university priorities and outlines a realistic picture of how quickly we will be able to accomplish our goals. Presentations of budget allocations may be accessed through the following link: http://www.fss.txstate.edu/budget/budgetnumbers/newfunds.html
Texas State is committed to implementing an integrated planning, budgeting, and assessment process with the 2012-2017 University Plan. However, the annual availability of resources to support new initiatives in the plan is somewhat unpredictable due to the legislature’s biennial appropriations process. Economic fluctuations, varying state tax collections, and limitations in tuition increases, coupled with competing interests for limited resources, make it difficult to predict state appropriations. In years where funds are limited, departments, colleges, and divisions may choose to reallocate resources within the unit in order to achieve plan priorities. In addition, to ensure fiscal responsibility, the President’s Cabinet reviews the University Plan annually to determine if priority changes should be made based on financial limitations. In the plan that follows, some proposed initiatives include current, unprioritized cost estimates while others, for a variety of reasons, do not include specific cost estimates.
If new funds are available for strategic initiatives, Texas State follows a process that ensures uniformity across the university with regard to approving new funding allocation. This process is outlined in University Policy and Procedure Statement (UPPS) No. 03.02.10 below.
PROCEDURES FOR APPROVING NEW FUNDING ALLOCATIONS
03.01 In May and June of each fiscal year, each vice president will review the University Strategic Plan and the financial impact on their operations of strategies to be implemented in the subsequent fiscal year. Each vice president will prepare a prioritized list of strategic funding initiatives based on this review of the University Strategic Plan. The Director of Budgeting will review the lists to ensure that costs such as fringe benefits and maintenance and utilities on requests involving facilities are adequately calculated.
03.02 Prior to July 1 of each fiscal year, the President’s Cabinet will meet to review and discuss these strategic funding initiatives and decide on the allocations to be included in the proposed annual operating budget for the upcoming fiscal year. In determining which strategic priorities can be funded, the President’s Cabinet will include in the available funding those revenues from tuition and fee rates previously approved by the Board of Regents, previously approved legislative appropriations, including Statutory Tuition, and other Unrestricted Current Funds, excluding Auxiliary Enterprises, revenues as estimated by the Director of Budgeting as being available.
03.03 The Director of Budgeting will document these strategic plan allocations and document their link to the University Strategic Plan.
03.04 The VPFSS will prepare a motion for approval of the Annual Operating Budget by the Board of Regents for submission to the Texas State University System Administrative Office (TSUS) by the due date assigned by that office.
03.05 The Director of Budgeting will prepare a Summary and Analysis of the Annual Operating Budget in the format prescribed by the TSUS and submit it electronically to the Vice Chancellor for Finance at the TSUS by the same due date as assigned in Section 03.04 above.
03.06 For the purpose of determining the distribution of lump sum strategic plan allocations made to the divisions, such as salary increase funds, new faculty or staff positions or departmental maintenance and operations funding, the Provost and vice presidents may adopt complimentary divisional Policy and Procedure Statements (PPS). The Provost or vice president will report any such subsequent allocations and their linkage to the University Strategic Plan to the Director of Budgeting.