In my e-mail to the University Community on March 29, 2010 describing the budget reallocation recommendations for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, I discussed the importance of multi-year planning and how it will allow us to be transformative in our thinking about Ohio University’s future. 

One of the difficult near-term challenges we face is the state budget’s heavy reliance on $8 billion in Federal economic stimulus funding in the current fiscal year and in FY 2011. When that Federal support ends in 2012, the state will face an $8 billion dollar budget deficit. While the Governor and the legislature have shielded higher education from deep cuts in recent years, given the choices they will face, it will be much more difficult for them to continue to do so in the future. 

We must pursue increased fiscal self-reliance, and to that end, we must immediately begin to strengthen the alignment between our budgeting and our strategic planning, staged across a series of years. Since March 29th, I have reviewed and discussed a number of ways to strengthen this alignment. A detailed document outlining our multi-year planning approach is available online. My e-mail to you highlights a few key elements of our approach.

Multi-year Planning Approach
Effective multi-year planning depends on the availability of good information and our process will include the collection and analysis of information about:
• current University activities and how those activities are funded and staffed;
• projected assumptions concerning key expenditures and revenues for the next 3-5 years; and
• environmental challenges that the University will face in the next decade.

Multi-year Planning Timeline
To aid in our strategic analysis, I will appoint a nine-member team that will conduct a University Environmental Scan.  Invitations to serve on that team have been sent to prospective members of the team and once the team is assembled their names will be shared with the University community.  Between now and October 1st, the team will research issues of critical importance, interview key constituencies, consult with internal and external experts, and produce a set of recommendations to be shared with the University community. Each planning unit in the University also will conduct its own environmental scan between May and October 1st with the same set of objectives. The goal of both sets of scans is to understand how anticipated changes in the state’s population, the competitive higher education landscape, and social, technological, economic, environmental, and political factors will affect the University and its units over the next five years. 

To aid in our budgetary analysis, the Budget Planning Council, the Office of Budget Planning and Analysis, and the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost will construct three- to five-year projections for revenues and expenditures. Those projections will be completed by September. From June through September, Executive Vice President and Provost Pam Benoit and Interim Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration Mike Angelini will hold meetings with planning unit heads. The purpose of the meetings will be to examine the budget of each unit in its entirety and to discuss a map of the unit’s activities and the staff connected to those activities.

New Parameters for Hiring Freeze
To carefully plan for FY 2012 budget uncertainties while we are engaged in this strategic and budgetary analysis, I have tightened the parameters on the current hiring freeze. Beginning May 17, 2010 hiring requests will be approved only in instances that fall clearly into a defined set of categories. A full listing can be found online, but examples include critical instructional positions to be filled by Group II, III, IV faculty; positions funded fully through external grants, contracts, or foundation accounts where funding will not be shifted to a general fund or general fee account at a future time; or health, safety, and compliance positions that cannot be adequately filled on a temporary basis.  Units seeking exemptions should use the new form that can be found online. After the meetings with planning unit heads conclude in September, we will make a decision as to whether to retain or amend the May 17th hiring freeze guidelines.

Next Steps
The results of the environmental scans, which will form the subject of a University-wide discussion in October, the revenue/expenditure projections, and the information gathered in the meetings with planning unit heads will be used to create a multi-year framework.  That framework will be used to set the parameters of the FY 2012 budget.  Our goal is to communicate those parameters to units in November—much earlier than in previous years.  

As we move our strategic and budgetary planning to a highly integrated model, we will continue to pursue the type of iterative, transparent approach that marked our course during the current fiscal year.

Difficult decisions lie ahead, but through them, we can take charge of determining our future.  The multi-year planning process we will pursue is modeled on what we do as teachers, scholars, and contributors to the academic mission of Ohio University.  We seek the best information, subject it to careful analysis, give scope to creativity, and dedicate ourselves to completing each task thoughtfully and fully.  Our ultimate objective is to continue our academic achievements in student success and the development of knowledge.  With passion, respect for each other, and commitment to our stewardship of a remarkable university, we will transform Ohio University and secure its promise for generations to come.

Cordially,

Roderick J. McDavis
President