Hi Claire,

 

Thanks so much for this.

 

I was one of the directors asking about the possibility of having some workshops on how to approach the possibility of converting to zero-based budgets, because while conversing about it up to this point has been energizing (despite my great ignorance), I’d appreciate opportunities to learn more.

 

Best,

 

Heidi

 

 

 

Dear colleagues:

I apologize for missing Monday’s meeting—I was part of an external review team for the College of the Holy Cross English Department. I always find this service to the profession illuminating and inspiring, so was happy to have the opportunity to do it.

 

I just want to catch you up on the Zero-based budget exercise, as I hear there have been some questions.

First, for  chairs and directors new this year, some backstory: When I became DOF in 2019-20, a priority was to review department and program operating budgets to make a case that departments and programs should have the budgets that they really need. Several chairs and directors told me that their operating budgets had not increased for at least 8 years, despite increases in majors, faculty lines, and academic staff as well as evolutions in the curricula and activities of the department/program. I proposed that as a thought exercise, departments and programs submit to me what a budget would look like based on their current and foreseeable needs—a budget built from scratch: a zero-based budget. Mateo Muñoz and I had started a review of each and every department/program operating budget in spring 2020. I had asked to see these budgets by the end of Block 8 2020. The rest is COVID history, and this project got dropped.

 

This is an important issue that I proposed taking up again at the beginning of the academic year. I would still like to see these “dream budgets” by the end of this academic year. This project is in concert with conversations that President Song is having at the cabinet level about changing CC’s budget and financial structures and procedures to align with current needs and realities, and the Campus Budget Committee’s work on aligning our budgetary practices and priorities with our values and mission.

 

I am planning on making my formal ask for these dream operating budgets in January. There will be further details, a form, and support sessions as well as conversations in our spring chairs and directors meetings.

 

We will put this on the agenda for our Block 4  Chairs and Directors meeting~ if you have questions meanwhile, please send them to me so that I may prepare for our meeting.

 

Best,

Claire

 

 

719.389.6000

 

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