udget planner's
merry-go-round:
never-ending ride
By Deb Gray
It's a perennial
merry-go-round, this business
of pitting debits versus credits
for Nebraska's largest
employer.
It's a job that involves
several weeks of 24-hour,
seven-day-a-week hauls with
computers and , economy
projections for company,'
according to Winn Sanderson,
NU assistant vice-president for
budget and planning.
Each year, fiscal planning
begins July 15. That's the date
departments from the NU
campuses, working through
their chancellor's office, begin
figuring needs for the next
.year.
To prepare budgets,
planners use guidelines drawn
up by NU President D.B.
Varner and passed by the NU
Board of Regents July 1,
Sanderson said. For the next
month, UNL Chancellor James
Zumberge meets' with deans
and departments heads to
assess individual departments'
needs. The chancellor of each
of NU's three campuses has
final authority in approving or
denying budget, requests for his
campus, Sanderson said.
3 factors considered
To figure a new budget,
each department begins with
the old one as a base. Three
factors are considered when
assessing next year's budget
increases, Sanderson said.
First is the continuum
budget the money needed to
maintain present programs,
inflation considered.
Economists and staff
personnel analyze and project
inflation and cost of living
increases for the upcoming
year. Then they calculate the
money needed to maintain
status quo in programs and
salaries, Sanderson said: .
Second, there is the work
load factor. Departments of
increasing enrollment,
journalism and business
administration, for example,
will receive additional money
to hire facuity members.
The third area in
determining increased budget
requests, Sanderson said, is
program improvement, better
known as the Areas of
Excellence. The departments
involved in the program "the
wish list of the chancellor,"
Sanderson called it have been
designated by the chancellor .
and board of regents as areas of
high potential, and possibly
with money-fueled injections
could become excellent.
These budget requests are
figured on a priority basis,
Sanderson said. This year NU
requested $2 million in
program improvements, $1
million of that for UNL.
But these three
areas continuum, work load
and program improvement are
only one facet of the budget,
Sanderson said. These
exemplify the expenditure
side. Since a university, like
any entity spending money,
has to balance its budget,
incoming revenue is an equally
important and complex
consideration.
Revenue comes primarily
from three sources, Sanderson
'said: state tax dollars, tuition
fees and federal funds.
The changing character of
the student population "a
difficult consumer because
they often change their
minds," Sanderson said has
created its share of fiscal
headaches for budget planners.
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It's not so much that
enrollments are declining -they
are, but not at the
nosedive rate that it's
sometimes played up to be -but
students are taking fewer
hours these days, Sanderson
said. And each $ 1 8-credit-hour
less multiplied a thousandfold
constitutes a major lose in
revenue.
Sept. 15 deadline
"If we miss our projection
for student enrollment by one
per cent, then we're out
$300,000," Sanderson said.
But students at UNL are
getting a break, he added.
"We're one of the few states
who haven't increased their
tuition rates for three years.
Historically, there has been an
increase in tuition every other
year."
. " After Zumberge draws up
the UNL budget,. he sends it to
President Varner in August.
The overall NU budget is
approved Sept. 1 at the regents
meeting.
Copies of the recommended
budget are sent to two state
offices by Sept. 15: One to the
Department of Administrative
Services (DAS) and the other
to the Legislative Fispal Office
(LFO). The Sept. 1 5 date is set
by law, Sanderson said.
These agencies review .the
budget until December. In
January the two agencies make
their separate recommenda
tions to the Appropriations
. Committee. DAS, which is
Gov. J. J. Exon's. budget arm,
and the Legislative ' Fiscal
Office get their recommenda
tion to i.he committee 30 days
after the session begins.
Bullet biters
The Appropriation
Committee has three
recommendations before them:
NU's, which is asking for a 25
per cent increase in funuing
.this year; the LFO's,
recommending a 16 per cent
increase; and Gov. Exon's, who
has said he will settle for no
more than a 11 per cent
increase.
"When the committee draws
up the final budget, they can
take any mixture from three
budgets, they have total
discretion," Sanderson said.
In a 90-day session, such as
this year's, the budget is
approved in April and sent to
the floor of the Legislature.
The budget is usually passed
within that week and sent to
Gov. Exon who either signs or
vetoes it.
Sanderson said his office is
preparing for another year of
bullet biting. Since their 25 per
cent increase is highly unlikely,
NU budget planners are
drawing up options for faculty
cutbacks and shaving operating
costs.
On July 1, the 1975-76
budget goes into effect. And,
15 days later, the battle for the
1976-77 budget will begin.
Varner: "The enactment
of Exon's proposals would
create serious
problems for us"
Exon; "I don't believe university
administrators have the proper
compassion for the overall
economic picture"
fTlarvel: Let the administrators
divide. NU's lump-sum
appropriation among the
three campuses
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Wednesday, april 9, 1975
daily nebraskan
page 7
