Budget update: July 15, 2020
July 15, 2020
— by Dan White, chancellor
As we move into FY21, Associate Vice Chancellor for Financial Services Amanda Wall
and her team will be releasing updated guidance on unreserved fund balances (UFB).
The system office has changed the level of UFB each university must carry forward
across fiscal years, moving the target from 2% to 4% of our unrestricted operating
budget by the end of FY22, which increases the level of ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ reserves during this time
of heavy uncertainty.
In addition, I previously released a due to COVID-19. Now that we are moving into FY21 and preparing for the fall, spending
should resume as it normally would in preparation for the semester. Thank you all
for your diligence in FY20, managing your budgets prudently during a very uncertain
time.
With the resumption of regular spending, please continue to work with AVC Wall on
COVID-19 needs for your college or department. As we procure items centrally to prepare
campus, we are finding that many items are on backorder and some we are unable to
find. It’s important that we coordinate efforts across ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ’s campuses to ensure that
everyone has adequate supplies for a safe working and learning environment.
We are purchasing face shields for teaching faculty and for staff who will require
them this coming fall. We have also placed an order for reusable face masks for staff,
faculty and students. We will be stocking buildings with disposable masks to make
sure that everyone is safe, including campus visitors or the occasional student who
forgets a mask. Masks are required indoors except in single-occupancy offices and
for special accommodations. Masks are required for all employees, students, contractors
and visitors.
We are operating under an expectation that the Board of Regents will want to review
UA’s (and therefore also ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ’s) budget actions for next fiscal year (FY22) as early
as fall, which is sooner than in prior years. Budget action plans are being requested
by the November board meeting. As such, we will start budget planning early this year.
Once the semester starts, I will send budget guidance to vice chancellors so that
we can assemble our budget plans to comply with the new budget timeline.
Thank you all for undertaking the challenging work towards our fall resumption. Special
thanks to the university’s Incident Management Team that has been working doubly hard
on preparing plans for all of our sites so that we are ready to go next month!
Thank you for choosing ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ.