ABSTRACT: 2015 ELATE Institutional Action Project Poster Symposium
Project Title: Collaborative Budget and Priorities Planning at University of Cincinnati
Name and Institution: Chia-Chi Ho, Professor
Biomedical, Chemical, and Environmental Engineering,
University of Cincinnati
Collaborators:
Steven Boyce Medicine
Anastasios Ioannides Engineering and Applied Science
Peter Disimile
Tom Ridgway
FenFang Hwu,
Daniel Langmeyer,
Kent Lutz
Bob Ambach
Jason Goodrich
Mike Bohn
Engineering and Applied Science
Arts and Science
Arts and Science
Arts and Science
UC Blue Ash Campus
Senior VP for Administration and Finance
Director of Public Safety, Chief of Police
Athletic Director
Beverly Davenport
Santa Uno
Senior VP for Academic Affairs and Provost
President
Background, Challenge or Opportunity: The University of Cincinnati will be celebrating its
200 th year this 2019. For its coming third century, UC’s tradition of academic excellence, real world coop experience, and collaborative research will be propelled by (1) Investing in faculty & staff, (2) Leveraging research, (3) Reimagining the student experience, (4) Excellent E-Learning,
(5) Building the resource database. There exists an opportunity to engage faculty more closely in budget and priorities and planning for UC’s Third Century. Convincing faculty to buy-in to the rationale for budget decisions after-the-fact is challenging. Past efforts to decentralize budgeting authority through performance-based budgeting is still misunderstood by the majority of faculty. Budgeting can be divisive. Solicitation of extensive faculty input, while desirable, can be limited by the need to maintain a positive environment.
Purpose/Objectives: Establish a collaborative process that aligns budget and priorities planning with the institutional Third Century strategic plan. Examples of specific objectives to be collaboratively include: (1) Funding for a new basketball stadium, (2) Academic support for athletes, 99% of whom do not continue on to athletic careers, (3) Funding for research infrastructure in the face of declines in public and private funding, (4) Timing of the next capital campaign, (5) Report of near-campus crime without triggering needless panic, and (6)
Promoting research through performance-based budgeting.

ABSTRACT: 2015 ELATE Institutional Action Project Poster Symposium
Methods &Approach: As a faculty at UC for over a decade it was only after becoming involved with the UC Budget and Priorities Committees did I fully appreciate the great care UC takes in budgeting and the strong rationale underlying budget decisions at the university-wide level.
Budget and priorities planning would benefit if we:
1.
Engage faculty representatives from all colleges
2.
Communicate with stakeholders: faculty, students, staff, and alumni
3.
Gather/share data to develop trust: faculty will be encouraged to gather data on university finances and contribute to integrated decision making through conversations with the President, Senior VP for Administration and Finance, Provost, Athletic Director, and Director of Public Safety
4.
Share perspectives: different academic units, e.g., Library, Music, Law, Medicine,
Engineering, Arts & Sciences, and Athletics view each group’s contribution to the
University differently.
5.
Jointly identify challenges and solutions: everyone will benefit, but expectations must be clear
6.
Engender dialogue: participants seek to convince one another directly instead of an audience or third parties
7.
Create a communal vision for prioritizing functions that support the university mission
8.
Set priorities and goals
Outcomes and Evaluation: This collaborative planning process will be evaluated by all stakeholders, with both online and in-person forums to hear out inevitable complaints. Longer term, engaging all participants more closely in budget and priorities planning will lead to (1)
Greater transparency, (2) Broader understanding of how, why, and when decisions are made,
(3) Deeper trust and partnership, (4) New bridges for future collaboration amongst participants,
(5) More efficient pooling of resources and services, (6) Better forecasting of enrollment, staffing, and resource requirements, that ultimately lead to (7) Reduced costs.
Outcomes to date are a list of suggestions from discussions with stakeholders to share with the faculty senate, Provost, Senior VP for Administration and Finance. The dialogues will continue and resolutions will be provided to the senate for approval then shared with University leaders.

INVESTING
IN FACULTY
& STAFF
The University of Cincinnati will be celebrating its 200 th year this 2019. For its coming third century, UC’s tradition of academic excellence, real world coop experience, and collaborative research will be propelled by:
LEVERAGING
RESEARCH
There exists an opportunity to engage faculty more closely in budget and priorities and planning for UC’s Third Century. Convincing faculty to buy-in to the rationale for budget decisions after-the-fact is challenging. Past efforts to decentralize budgeting authority through performance-based budgeting is still misunderstood by the majority of faculty. Budgeting can be divisive.
Solicitation of extensive faculty input, while desirable, can be limited by the need to maintain a positive environment.
Establish a collaborative process that aligns budget and priorities planning with the institutional Third Century strategic plan. Examples of specific objectives to be collaboratively addressed:
FUNDS FOR
BASKETBALL
STADIUM
TIMING OF
CAPITAL
CAMPAIGN
REIMAGINING
THE STUDENT
EXPERIENCE
ACADEMIC
SUPPORT FOR
ATHLETES
NEAR-CAMPUS
CRIME
REPORTING
EXCELLENT
E-LEARNING
BUILDING THE
RESOURCE
BASE
As a faculty at UC for over a decade it was only after becoming involved with the UC Budget and Priorities Committees did I fully appreciate the great care
UC takes in budgeting and the strong rationale underlying budget decisions at the university-wide level. Budget and priorities planning would benefit if we:
1. Engage faculty representatives from all colleges
2. Communicate with stakeholders: faculty, students, staff, and alumni
3. Gather/share data to develop trust: faculty will be encouraged to gather data on university finances and contribute to integrated decision making through conversations with the President, Senior VP for Administration and Finance, Provost,
Athletic Director, and Director of Public Safety
4. Share perspectives: different academic units, e.g., Library, Music, Law,
Medicine, Engineering, Arts & Sciences, and Athletics view each group’s contribution to the University differently.
5. Jointly identify challenges and solutions: everyone will benefit, but expectations must be clear
6. Engender dialogue: participants seek to convince one another directly instead of an audience or third parties
7. Create a communal vision for prioritizing functions that support the university mission
8. Set priorities and goals
PROCESS
EVALUATION BY
STAKEHOLDERS
BROADER
UNDERSTANDING
HOW/WHY/WHEN
COMPLAINTS ?
OF COURSE !!
HEAR THEM OUT
DEEPER
TRUST AND
PARTNERSHIP
GREATER
TRANSPARENCY
BRIDGES FOR
FUTURE
COLLABORATIONS
EFFICIENT
POOLING OF
RESOURCES
BETTER
FORECASTING
REDUCE
COST
FUNDS FOR
RESEARCH
INFRASTRUCTURE
•
Steven Boyce, Medicine
•
Anastasios Ioannides, Engineering
•
Peter Disimile, Engineering
•
Tom Ridgway, Arts and Science
•
FenFang Hwu, Arts and Science
•
Daniel Langmeyer, Arts and Science
•
Kent Lutz, Blue Ash Campus
Outcomes to date are a list of suggestions from discussions with stakeholders to share with the faculty senate, Provost, Senior VP for Administration and
Finance. The dialogues will continue and resolutions will be provided to the senate for approval then shared with University leaders.
Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is a success – Henry Ford
PERFORMANCE
BASED BUDGETING
FOR RESEARCH
•
Bob Ambach, Senior VP Administration and Finance
•
Beverly Davenport, Senior VP Academic Affairs / Provost
•
Jason Goodrich, Director of Public Safety, Chief of Police
•
Mike Bohn, Athletic Director
Financial support and guidance from Beverly Davenport (Provost), Teik Lim
(Dean of Engineering), George Sorial (Dept Head), and NSF ADVANCE / UC
LEAF are gratefully acknowledged.
•
Santa Uno, President