The University Budget and Finance Committee (UBFC) is accepting funding proposals for items in line with the strategic plan
Faculty Senate Chair Liz Brandt said the requests aren’t for a portion of any particular pool of money. Instead, the UBFC has chosen proposals that would shed light on the university’s priorities.
Faculty Senate Vice Chair Patrick Hrdlicka said the UBFC will likely get around 200 proposals, and if last year’s process is any indication, it will pick about 10. Hrdlicka is a member of UBFC.
“The UBFC will only decide which proposals are meritorious,” Hrdlicka said. “The president’s cabinet will review them and decide whether to find funding internally or develop line items to the (State Board of Education) or to request from the legislature.”
UI Provost and Executive Vice President John Wiencek said individual departments can draft proposals for almost any purpose — from funding programs to paying for new faculty or staff positions, and it can be for permanent or one-time funding.
The UBFC receives the requests through an online form.
Brandt said proposals will likely have a better chance of becoming a high priority if they are in line with a part of the strategic plan.
Brandt said this is only the second year the committee’s process has been so open. She said the changes in the process last year were beneficial overall, but the process was plagued by many small problems.
“That committee had been largely dormant,” Brandt said. “Last year, the committee wanted to establish a much more transparent way for funding requests for operational funding to be submitted.”