MU creates two budget committees to address $20 million shortfall

MU is creating two new budget committees as the university continues to battle a $20 million shortfall.

University administrators announced the creation of the committees Thursday. According to a release, the committees will “advise administrators on specific aspects of the MU budget.” Student, faculty and staff representatives will serve on the committees.

The Resource Allocation Model Committee will deal with how the university can best invest its financial resources while the Capital Financing Advisory Committee will make recommendations to the chancellor on financing options for capital improvements.

“It is my goal that we all share in making the recommendations that will have a lasting impact on the university,” Interim Chancellor Hank Foley said in a statement. “The way we determine our budget priorities, including our capital improvements, will set the course for maintaining and building on our research excellence and the overall student experience at Mizzou. It is important that the campus work together to determine our way forward.”

The Resource Allocation Model Committee will help implement a new resource allocation model for the university by providing input on resource allocation, methods to cover overhead and ongoing operational costs and creating incentives at the unit/division level to encourage collective goals.

The Capital Financing Advisory Committee, meanwhile, will provide recommendations on procedures and plans for the development of capital financing options, prioritization for new capital fund allocations, prioritization for existing resources allocated for capital improvements and procedures to screen and prioritize requests for capital improvement funds.

The Resource Allocation Model Committee will be led by Vice Chancellor for Finance Rhoda Gibler and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost Garnett Stokes. Members will include four faculty members, two staff members, three students and three leaders nominated from the campus.

Members of the Capital Financing Advisory Committee, meanwhile, will include four faculty members, two staff members, three students and three leaders nominated from the campus.

Last week, Interim MU Chancellor Hank Foley announced that departments across the University of Missouri campus will dip into reserve funds to make up for the budget shortfall. MU spokesperson Christian Basi said the plan will require each department to either defer or cut projects it may have been saving for. He said administrators have developed a formula to weigh both reserve funds and general revenue allocations to decide how much each school will be responsible for in the shortfall.

Foley is expected to announce how much each department will be responsible for at a faculty council meeting today.