The Division of Academic Affairs encompasses nine colleges and schools, University Studies, International and English Language programs, and major academic and student support functions including Student Affairs, the Library, the Registrar, Advising and Career Services, the Office of Academic Innovation, the Learning Center, the Office of International Affairs, and others. These units constitute about two-thirds of the University’s General Fund budget. The division also includes large auxiliary units like University Housing and Residence Life and the Student Health and Counseling Center, as well as many support services funded from student fees.
The role of Academic Budget and Planning is to lead the process of making budget allocation decisions across the units that make up Academic Affairs, design resource strategies that provide the foundation for fiscal health at PSU, empower units to build their programs, provide strong managerial incentives, coordinate resources, and implement major institutional strategies.
We do this several ways including:
Academic Affairs Request Process
Updated in November 2023
PeopleAdmin workflow requires all major and minor modifications to receive Vice President (VP) Approval to ensure there are sufficient resources to support the hiring request. To support this review process, Academic Affairs requires that a Hire Request Form be submitted for all hiring requests for all General Funds and Other E&G (i.e. online fee, course fees, F&A) funded positions. A form is no longer needed for PA Changes, Restricted funds, Designated Operations and Auxiliaries (i,.e. Housing, SHAC, Helen Gordon, Student Fee Funded Areas).
Status of the submitted request will be communicated within one week.
| Goal | Data Available | Questions to Address |
|---|
| Sustaining and/or enhancing student persistence, retention, and graduation | Tableau: Term-to-Term Persistence Graduation Metrics
Datamaster:
Visual Persistence Custom- IR0011
| - How does this position support persistence, retention, and graduation?
- If this position is not filled, what are the likely impacts on persistence, retention, and graduation?
- How many students does this position serve, if applicable?
|
| Sustaining and/or enhancing revenue production | Tableau:
Admission Funnel Datamaster:
Fall Headcount Trends - IR0013 Faculty Details with Course Listing by ID - H0022 (useful for SCH estimate for replacement positions) Faculty Details with Course Listing by Department - H0011
| - How does this position sustain and/or enhance revenue production?
- If the number of majors and/or SCH is declining, can demand be met by current capacity or existing resources in other areas?
- What is the estimated SCH/revenue per year, if applicable?
- Is there a revenue source outside of tuition or state funding for this position?
- Does the estimated annual revenue cover the annual costs for the next three years?
|
| Sustaining and/or enhancing the equity and racial justice goals of the university | Equity Scorecard Tableau:
Term to Term Persistence Graduation Metrics Datamaster:
Fall Headcount Trends - IR0013, group by Race/Ethnicity Fact Book - Student Profile
| - How does this position sustain and/or enhance the equity and racial justice goals of the university?
- If this position is not filled, what is the impact on the equity and racial justice goals of the university?
|
| Sustaining and/or enhancing Academic Affairs’ ability to develop a financially sustainable future | | - Are there other positions that you will not fill by filling this position?
- Would this position be prioritized if there are budget reductions?
|
| Sustaining and/or enhancing administrative/operational competency | | - How does this position, in the immediate or near term, support core services necessary to maintain essential operations of the university?
- What core services does this position support?
- What alternatives to the service delivery have been considered?
|
| Leveraging opportunities for external partnerships or investments | | - Are there external partnerships that are dependent upon this position?
- Are there opportunities to leverage external funding through this position?
|
Integrated Planning of Enrollment and Budget (IPEB)
The Integrated Planning of Enrollment and Budget (IPEB) is the annual process that is used by the Office of Academic Affairs (OAA) to support strategic enrollment management, unit level strategic planning and resource allocation in a transparent and efficient manner. The IPEB process is reviewed and agreed between the Faculty Senate Budget Committee, Provost and the Office of Academic Budget and Planning. This process requires input and collaborations from the following groups:
- College, School and Academic Support unit leadership and fiscal officers
- Faculty Senate Budget Committee (FSBC)
- Enrollment Forecast Review Team (EFRT)
- Academic Leadership Team
- University Budget Office
The IPEB Process requires the following materials to be prepared by the College, School and Academic Support units (if applicable). An Equity Lens should be incorporated into all phases of the IPEB process.
| Document | Purpose |
|---|
| Strategic Enrollment Plan (SEP) | Based on initial OIRP* projections of department-level enrollment, enrollment-generating units develop unit-level plans/projections. These are informed by both unit-level and institutional enrollment trends. This information is shared with OIRP for consideration in OIRP’s institutional projection model. The enrollment plans are updated throughout the process, based on updated enrollment forecasts, which are the basis of the University’s tuition revenue forecast. The SEP should also incorporate trend information from the PRWG Driver Metrics Dashboards. |
| Strategic Planning Narrative (SPN) | To gain an understanding of how investments, reductions and cross-functional collaborations may impact enrollment and retention for the coming academic year. The SPN should also incorporate information from the PRWG Dashboards to address topics of completion and service courses. |
| Budget Scenarios | Outline possible annual cost increases and unit scenarios to achieve a balanced budget. Any proposed adjustments that result from the Program Review/Reduction Process should be included here. |
| Resource Plans | Identify areas of investments that could increase tuition revenue or other revenues, based on Dashboard data and enrollment trends. |
| Remissions Request | Requests remissions based on enrollment trends, the SEP, and OIRP enrollment projections. |
| Management Reserves Spending Plans | Provides details of strategic use of management reserves for this and future years. |
*Office of Institutional Research and Planning, member of EFRT.
Academic Budget Model
Several years of operating under PSU’s Performance-Based Budgeting (PBB) model showed some of what worked well and what could work better with this model. Provost Jeffords and the Academic Leadership Team decided to launch a project to refine the model to guide budget allocation decisions within Academic Affairs so that it is both more responsive to the performance objectives that define PBB and that the definition of performance be expanded to encompass more dimensions of a unit’s contribution to PSU’s fiscal health. This would include contributions to student success, cooperation and collaboration, and the University’s research and service missions.
In academic year 19-20, a working group was convened to develop a model for resource allocation within Academic Affairs that would integrate multiple factors and balance responsiveness and stability in connecting funding to underlying activity. A final report was issued in June 2021 that details the result of this work. The budget model is used as a tool to inform budget scenarios during the IPEB process but does not determine final allocations.
Our goal in allocating resources is to create a sustainable academic enterprise that serves current and future students. The foundation for this is a strong faculty bolstered by effective support services, which requires balanced investments.
Once the units (e.g., the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences) receive their allocation, they make the decisions on how to allocate those resources to departments (e.g., History) and to particular uses (e.g., faculty salaries, office supplies, etc.). Any budget funds not used by the end of the year are “carried over” and held in management reserves controlled by the college or major unit, encouraging each budget unit to take a multi-year approach to managing resources.
In addition to making the decision on allocations to the units, the Office of the Provost monitors the alignment between plans and actual activity during the year, coordinates initiatives between units, encourages consistent fiscal and managerial practices, and provides funding to advance institutional objectives.