Budget Overview
The operating budget for Georgia College is built incrementally through a process in which units submit new funding requests and also through a review of current operational funding for possible redirection. New funding requests must be indexed to the university's strategic directions and include a description of how the funds will be used to advance one or more of these strategic directions. Typically, the process for requesting new funding occurs during the Fall semester preceding the fiscal year for which new funding is requested.
Once new funding requests from the departmental level are reviewed and prioritized by the appropriate dean or vice president, the university conducts budget hearings during which these administrators present, explain, and defend their new funding requests and priorities. These hearings are open to the university community and provide an opportunity to review funding needs and priorities across the university.
The president, with support from the budget director, is responsible for preparing the final version of the university's new funding request and for proposing use of any new internal revenue. This funding request is presented to University System of Georgia staff for review and action. It is expected that the funding request submitted is carefully aligned with University System of Georgia funding priorities, dollar limits, and other factors that can change from year to year.
Periodically, the University System of Georgia and Georgia College review base budget expenditures and operations against peer institution data. This benchmarking process allows the institution to compare and evaluate the efficiency and productivity of key programs and services and make adjustments where necessary.
The University Senate's Resource, Planning & Institutional Policy Committee (RPIPC), comprised of faculty, staff, students and administrators, recommends improvements to the university's budgeting process. This committee is provided with an opportunity to provide input on the university's new funding proposal and is briefed on a variety of budgetary matters.
Usually in April the Georgia General Assembly approves the state budget for the subsequent fiscal year, which must then be signed by the governor. When this process is complete, the University System of Georgia Board of Regents determines the next fiscal year budget for each member institution.
Once institutional allocations are received, the original funding plan is reviewed for any necessary adjustments that may have arisen after the initial submission. A final analysis of the projected internal revenue is performed, taking a financially conservative, low risk tolerance approach. New funding is then allocated and approved redirections are made based upon the original planning priorities.
The development of the operating budget reflects the university's strategic priorities while also ensuring the flexibility to respond to unanticipated circumstances. The general operating budget serves as a "contract" between management and the operating units charged with carrying out priorities as funded. New resources are allocated as detailed line items to the relevant budgetary units, and budgets are routinely monitored during the fiscal year by the institutional budget office to ensure that any new funding is being utilized according to the institution's plan.
This site provides links to new funding requests submitted by deans and vice presidents, to the prioritized new funding requests submitted by the university president, to final budget allocations, and to an overview of the latest fiscal year's annual institutional budget as approved by the Board of Regents.
