University Budget Model Enhancement

UF has made targeted modifications to its budget model to advance strategic priorities and prestige. 

Over 200 campus stakeholders including Deans, Vice Presidents, fiscal officers, and staff provided input on modifications to establish a transparent and simple tool to allocate university resources to strategic priorities beginning on July 1, 2023.

Background

Beginning in 2021, the University of Florida undertook a comprehensive review of its approach to budgeting. Following industry best practice, over 200 UF community members were engaged to provide feedback on current pain points and identify future modifications to enhance the operating budget. This initiative resulted in a plan to implement a simpler and more transparent budget on July 1, 2023.

The identified modifications have no impact on the net resources of UF but have identified and addressed imminent risks to UF including rising inflationary pressures, ensuring annual University operational costs are equitably accounted for, and freeing up funding sources to dedicate to strategic initiatives. These modifications ensure UF remains an industry leader in budget management and empower university to continue to strategically build on UF’s top 5 status.

Goals of New Model

1. Increase transparency of source and uses of funds across the university and its units
2. Establish a consistent, accurate depiction of the financial profile of all university units
3. Create a rational mechanism to allocate revenues and expenses to units
4. Promote a UF-wide understanding of linkages between decisions and impacts
5. Provide leaders a data driven mechanism to direct resources to strategic priorities
6. Ensure UF is consistently aligning operations to industry best practice
7. Enable more sophisticated long-range financial planning capabilities