Budget group study invitation

The following message was shared with Ohio University employees on Oct. 12, 2020:

Dear Colleagues, 

We again invite self-nominations for a budget study group led by Provost Sayrs and Senior Vice President Shaffer during fall 2020. This study group will provide an opportunity to increase transparency about the University budget, insight into how the budget is formed, and input on budget processes and communication.  

We envision a group with varying levels of budget experience: we will solicit nominations from our senates, but we especially encourage the participation of faculty and staff who have not served on Budget Planning Council, the Budget Model group, or had other opportunities to discuss and provide input on the University budget and University budget processes.  

We anticipate meeting for approximately two hours once per week for six weeks (no meeting the week of Thanksgiving). In the summer, we limited the group size to 35, but based on that experience, we believe we can accommodate a larger group this fall. If there is enough interest, we will add additional study groups in the spring. A tentative outline of topics is below, but the agenda will also be shaped by the group.  

Week 1: Introduction to University budgeting
Week 2: University budget history 
Week 3: Administrative and faculty staffing history 
Week 4: Current budget pressures and reserves 
Week 5: Current budget decisions and processes: University and campus/college/unit 
Week 6: Shared governance and next steps 

If you are interested in participating, please complete the brief survey at https://ohio.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2tSQGVOEdgVBkVL by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, October 16.  

Reminder: those who self-nominated for the summer study group but were not able to participate because of size limitations will be given priority consideration for fall unless they have asked to be removed. If you did self-nominate and do not wish to be considered for the fall study group, please email provost@ohio.edu.  

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Sayrs
Executive Vice President and Provost

Deborah Shaffer
Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration