Budget

The Budget Office provides necessary support for the University in obtaining state funds and planning spending from local sources, such as tuition, fees and other revenue sources to develop the fiscal year internal operating budget. Local entity revenue and expenditure operating budgets are developed in conjunction with their fiscal officers and senior administration. The mission and vision of the University are financed primarily by funds from these sources.

The office also assists in obtaining capital funding for new buildings, major remodeling and site improvements, as well as deferred maintenance.

The office provides support for the University planning and budgeting process through submissions of budget requests, reports and analyses to the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE), the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget (GOMB) and the Illinois State Legislature (ISL) and through memberships on the University Budget Committee (UBC), University Accreditation Steering Committee (UASC) and the Tuition, Fee, and Waivers Committee. Additional assistance is provided throughout the fiscal year with budget monitoring to aid the University in spending operating budgets comparable to revenue sources.

With the Board of Trustee’s approval, the Budget Office submits the University's budget requests to the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) as part of the Resource Allocation Management Program (RAMP) documents. IBHE reviews and analyzes requests from public universities, community colleges and related higher education agencies and produces its budget recommendations for higher education for operations, grants, and capital improvements, which are sent to the appropriate budget staffs of the Governor's Office of Management and Budget (GOMB) and members of the General Assembly.

The Illinois Constitution requires the Governor to prepare and submit a state budget to the General Assembly that includes recommended spending levels for state agencies based on estimated funds available from tax collections and other sources, and state debt and liabilities as developed by the GOMB. Per state mandate, GOMB prepares the Governor's annual state budget and advises the Governor on the availability of revenues and the allocation of those resources to agency programs.”

The Governor presents his/her budget recommendations in an address to the General Assembly each year on the third Wednesday in February. Both the Illinois House and Illinois Senate hold budget hearings with state universities during the two months immediately following the governor's address. The version of the budget passed by the General Assembly, usually at the end of the legislative session, may provide an appropriation different from that proposed by the Governor. The Governor may reduce or veto a line of appropriation from the bill as passed by the General Assembly, without affecting the rest of the appropriation bill; but, those actions may be reversed in the fall sessions by the General Assembly with the necessary vote to override. Once approved by both Houses and signed by the Governor, the new budget is ready for implementation beginning July 1.

The budget development is a two-year process. It is a collaborative effort between the various department heads, their staff, committees and their division vice presidents that involve developing budget plans to be implemented in future fiscal years. For example, budget development plans for fiscal years 2024 and 2025 are initiated in FY2023. The president, vice presidents and senior administrators, in collaboration with their operating unit heads, develop budget request priorities. The Budgeting, Planning, Assessment and Reporting Forms (BPAR) which started in FY2023 must be completed to make proposals for new projects and budget expenditures based on strategic goals, and then assess the effectiveness of the projects. New budget priorities approved by the division heads must be presented to the University Budget Committee (UBC) as part of the annual budget requests.

The UBC meets with the president, vice presidents, and senior administrators and reviews all requests and rationales. The UBC was created by the Board of Trustees to widen representation in the budgetary process among the University's constituencies. The committee has diverse membership with representatives from each major division in the University and with participation from the faculty, administration, civil service and the student body. The committee then compiles and prepares a summary of requests and sends budget recommendations for the next two (2) fiscal years to the President. The President then submits the University's operating and capital appropriation budget requests to the Board of Trustees for review and approval.

Refer to the schedules for the budget process below.

Final responsibility for the Internal Operating Budget of the University rests with the University’s Board of Trustees (BOT). The President presents the annual operating budget to the Board of Trustees for review and approval.

Beginning fiscal year 2005, preliminary budget review and approval is made by the BOT prior to July 1 for the upcoming fiscal year, as part of their fiduciary responsibility to review, approve, and provide oversight of the institution’s annual budget. The preliminary budget approval is based on estimated spending plans for the fiscal year. The University allocates funds to the departments and divisions for their use and distribution. Once the process of allocation has been completed, the detailed budget information is input into the Banner system on a line item basis. All accounts administered by the University must have an operating budget allocated by line item before expenditures can be processed. An operating budget is a detailed plan of revenues and/or expenditures for a program or department of the University for the fiscal year, normally from July 1 through the following June 30.

Final approval, at the unit detail level, is made by the Board in September. The Board is kept apprised of all material budget impacts and changes through meetings of the Board’s Finance and Audit Committee. Once the University’s internal approvals are finalized the Board approved operating budget is sent to the IBHE.

Budget information is entered into the Banner system on a line item basis. A budget book is completed on a summary and departmental basis by line item, and distributed to the BOT, president, vice presidents and the Library in pdf format. Online access to the budget book is also available to the president, vice presidents, deans, fiscal officers and UBC members via Cougar Connect.

Budgetary activities are then reported on and monitored periodically. Fiscal officers use CSU X-Press to view their budget and actual transactions online. This module provides internal management information.

 

Internal Operating Budgets
PDF Icon Budget Book FY 2024
PDF Icon Budget Book FY 2023
PDF Icon Budget Book FY 2022
PDF Icon Budget Book FY 2021
PDF Icon Budget Book FY 2020
PDF Icon Budget Book FY 2019
PDF Icon Budget Book FY 2018

 

Resources