IU Bloomington is well underway with its budget redesign process. The Budget Model Redesign Steering Committee, comprised of representation from the Bloomington Faculty Council, IUB deans, and fiscal officers from IUB academic units, has been guiding the development of the IUB budget model framework and design of the conceptual model. The Budget Model Development and Solutions Team, which includes fiscal officers and other financial data experts, provides additional analysis, input, and outreach to other financial leaders and campus partners as needed.
Guiding Principles
The iterative design process has been guided by a set of principles developed by the Steering Committee. The final model should be transparent, equitable, and understandable to campus constituencies. It should provide units with flexibility, stability, and predictability they need to plan, innovate, and thrive. It should encourage collaboration across units while fostering excellence in teaching, research, and service across all schools and disciplines as well as allow for meaningful investments in common good priorities.
Broad Recommendations
Revenue Allocation
The new campus budget model at IUB will include a three-prong funding approach:
- Incentive/Entrepreneurial: Creates unit-level financial accountability and fosters an entrepreneurial spirit to drive innovation in teaching, research and service.
- Centralized/Supplemental: Creates standardization and consistency across units, in alignment with institutional goals.
- Strategic/Investment: Provides targeted funding to foster interdisciplinary activity, strategic campus investments, and key academic investments.
Examples of possible funding under each prong include:
- Incentive/Entrepreneurial: This funding allocates academic year tuition revenues based on credit hour rates distributed between schools of instruction and major schools (percent distribution for each is to be determined). Summer, online, and graduate course tuition will continue to flow 100% to the schools of instruction.
- Centralized/Supplemental: This includes funding for compensation increases to allow for a more equitable approach to salary adjustments across units. It may also include central support for units based on special circumstances such as unusually high instructional costs, new program development costs, adjustments required to migrate to the new model, or for attaining metrics to meet common campus goals.
- Strategic/Investment: This funding will support key priorities for the campus, such as initiatives outlined under IUB2030, Provost Funding, Academic Advising 2030, and other strategic campus initiatives to support student success and research productivity.
Expense Distribution
The Steering Committee continues to review approaches for allocating central campus expenses across units. While not finalized yet, the committee recommends using a driver-based methodology that would provide units with more control and the ability to plan for their future. These drivers might include Faculty FTE, Staff FTE, Student Headcount or Credit Hours, Square Footage, Direct Expenses, or others.
Accountability and Oversight
Additionally, the Steering Committee recommends that an IUB Financial Advisory Council be established, with representation from the Bloomington Faculty Council, campus academic leadership, and campus financial leadership. The Advisory Council would provide ongoing review and feedback on the budget model and ensure transparency and accountability in the implementation of the new model.
The Timeline
For details on IUB’s progress, visit the Process & Timeline page.