As you know, one of the Designing DePaul initiatives is a retooling and reimagining of our entire budget and financial planning process. In previous budget planning cycles, by the end of November, units and SRAC would have completed most of their work, and we would have a proposed budget to present to the Board’s Finance Committee for their consideration in December. A notable outcome from the Designing DePaul sessions is that this process no longer works for us. It is clear that we need more time to provide deeper engagement from all faculty and staff. To answer that call, the budget planning process has been extended, beginning with enrollment planning work this fall and ending with the Board of Trustees meeting in May.
At the college, school, or unit level, budget planning and priority setting is happening now through February 18, 2024. Engagement with faculty and staff should be occurring through open dialogue and feedback loops. While the method of engagement may vary from unit to unit, these conversations are meant to bring the community together to set your FY25 priorities.
We are forecasting minimal net tuition revenue growth compared to the current year. As a result, colleges, schools, and units should plan flat overall, and to the extent necessary reallocate within their existing budgets. While we do not expect any additional cost cutting to balance the FY25 budget, there are several schools and colleges who will be delivering the second phase of their FY24 faculty-related budget reductions.
As you ideate with your faculty and staff, any plans and proposals generated that are expected to drive positive near-term financial returns should be submitted to your executive liaisons using the
digital submission form available on the University Budgets and Planning website. You may choose to open this submission form up to your department heads and vet all electronic submissions before they are sent to your executive area (we can build a workflow into the form for you), or this vetting can be done offline. In this case, you or your delegate will enter only those submissions that you chose to move forward. Please contact Eric Nelson with any additional questions in regards to the digital submission form, workflow, or process. While we cannot guarantee submission will equate to support, it is very important to keep revenue generating activities in our forefront as we design our path forward.
Please reach out with any questions or concerns. We will ask for progress updates as we make our way through the planning cycle. Thank you in advance for your attention to this most important work.