- Make the budgeting process easier for all employees and the community at large to understand
- Replace contingencies in each budget, with one real contingency
- Institute program-based accounting or “block budgeting”
- Institute zero-based budgeting
- Improve the year-to-year continuity of the budgeting process
- Train deans and all budget managers in fiscal and budget management
- Improve budgeting and tracking to provide control over temporary and part-time employees
- Create funding incentives for departments to generate revenues and lower costs
- Improve or implement cost accounting
- Require cost justification for all major expenditures
- Review the use and allocation of the supplies budget
- Track grants and special funding sources comprehensively
- Simplify the bill-paying system to ensure bills are paid on time to avoid late charges or cessation of services
- Use state program-based funding formulas as benchmarks to fund departments
The shortest recorded period of time lies between the minute you put some money away for a rainy day and the unexpected arrival of rain.
-Jane Bryant Quinn
The following ideas were part of an email (October 3, 2009) from the Community College League of California (prepared by Scott Lay, President and Chief Executive Officer, Orange Coast College '94):
ReplyDelete-- Suspend mandates related to 50% law and full-time faculty obligations
-- Consolidate districts and reduce the number of administrators
-- Enact the Accelerated Learning College Proposal
-- Seek external support from large foundations
-- Enhance college foundations and alumni outreach (in the State of California)
-- Significantly increase student fees to both raise revenue and increase the "cost" of dropping classes/programs
-- Lower student fees to reduce the amount of students who are working
-- Save money through statewide purchasing of databases and supplies