The Murray State News
‘ ‘BUDGET TheNews.org
October 26, 2012
Vol. 88, No. 11
The University operating budget is one of the most important documents in the University system ... so (students) should never be intimidated or afraid to ask about the budget.” -Jeremiah Johnson, Student Regent
YOUR GUIDE TO THE UNIVERSITY’S ANNUAL OPERATING
VPs, Regent discuss distribution of funds Chris Wilcox || News Editor cwilcox2@murraystate.edu
The Murray State administration prepares an annual operating budget, setting the guidelines for the expenditures and revenues of the University. The state government mandates businesses or institutions receiving public funding provide documentation regarding budgets. Jeremiah Johnson, student regent and Student Government Association president, said the operating budget shows the constituents of Murray State where all of the money is going and approximately how much the University gets from tuition, state appropriations and elsewhere. “The University operating budget is one of the most important documents in the University system,” he said. “It is very important for students to know where their money goes and it is increasingly important for the students to know that once the budget is passed at the Board of Regents meeting it is public record, so they should never be intimidated or afraid to ask about the budget.” Tom Denton, vice president of Finance and Administrative Services, said the operating
budget is established on a fiscal year basis to coincide with the state’s operating year. “Murray State is considered a component unit of the entire state budget process and is included in both the state biennial budget and the state annual (actual) operating revenue and expenditure report,” he said. The Board of Regents approved the 2012-13 budget at its June meeting. “The greatest variable is whether the departments expend their budget expenditures, whether there are new revenue not budgeted, and whether departments expend their prior years’ carryover funds.” Denton said. According to the 2012-13 operating budget, approximately $124 million has been budgeted for the education and general portion of the revenue budget. The grand total revenue budget, which includes the education and general section and auxiliaries, is approximately $152.7 million. Students contribute $66.9 million to the education and general subtotal revenue budget, in the form of tuition and fees. Denton said the format of Murray State’s budget includes the nationally standardized
see BUDGET, 3A
10.9 M
Business
10 M
6.6 M
Education
5.4 M
Health Sciences & Human Services
3.8 M
4.5 M
* 1.7 M 12.3 M
Humanities & Fine Arts
11.7 M 11.2 M
Nursing
Science, Engineering & Technology
9.4 M
3.7 M
7.8 M
School of Agriculture
2.2 M
6.7 M
Library
2.0 M
5.1 M
Continuing Education Graphic by Evan Watson/The News
The chart above depicts the total budget for each of the nine academic colleges/schools by the order they are found in the 2012-13 operating budget. The blue bar illustrates the total budget and the red bar shows the instructional budget, which includes some services the colleges/schools provide, but primarily includes the salaries of the faculty and staff. *The School of Nursing has the same budget, for both classifications.
State, city grant first packaged beer licenses Edward Marlowe || Staff writer emarlowe@murraystate.edu
charge,” Jacobs said. “(To) allow the chairs to ask any questions, as well as have the opportunity to discuss any items as a group.” Jacobs said the questions asked at the meeting included how to deal with the overall process moving forward. He said the members of the teams also asked about the process they should employ to clarify any jurisdictional questions for programs that may provide a service to the community or campus, but are also academic in nature. Dunn said each academic and nonacademic team determines its own meeting time and frequency. While no set dates have been established on the progress of the teams, the president’s office has set a general timeline, which includes an interim report to the
While businesses continue to scramble for the limited supply of package liquor store and tavern licenses available, students and faculty will no longer have to wait for the first beer sales to arrive. Monday afternoon saw the first legal alcohol transactions in Murray take place inside Five Star Marathon, located at Five Points. Kendra Clere, sergeant for the Murray Police Department and City Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) Administrator for Murray, said while beer would arrive quicker than liquor stores and taverns, citizens could still be waiting for all of the license applications to be approved at the state and city levels. Just days before becoming a legal distributor of alcohol, Five Star Marathon made a misstep in the process, selling before finalizing both licenses. Last Friday afternoon, after having been stocked by Miller and Budweiser Distributing Co., Five Star Marathon began erroneously selling alcohol to customers before obtaining its city licensing. Clere said the entire situation was just a misunderstanding and has already been handled within city jurisdiction. “Five Star thought that because they already had their state license they could start selling, but they didn’t have their city license,” she said. “Without having their city license and having it posted like it was supposed to be, they technically couldn’t sell because they were in violation with city policies.” As of Tuesday morning, only Rite Aid, Huck’s, Max Fuel BP and Five Star Marathon had been approved not only at the state level, but also on the city level. Each business began selling by the early afternoon. More businesses, Clere said, would follow in the
see TEAMS, 3A
see ALCOHOL, 3A
Beamer Barron/The News
The Arthur J. Bauernfeind College of Business budget planning and review team discusses what the college will do to reduce expenditures and increase profits.
Review teams begin finance evaluations Chris Wilcox || News Editor cwilcox2@murraystate.edu
As the University enters the 10th week of the fall semester, the budget planning and review teams established by President Randy Dunn have begun prioritizing and evaluating academic and nonacademic programs. The teams were established to reduce or re-appropriate funds to make up for a state-made $2,289,600 deficit to the University budget. Josh Jacobs, chief of staff, said there has been no set number established by the president’s office or the Board of Regents, for how much each team should cut, but he said, the board indicated the administration should not rely on reserves for the coming year, as they did for this year’s budget. “The board approved the use of
approximately $1.9 million of reserves for 2012-13,” he said. The Board of Regents annually reviews recommendations from Dunn, including those in regards to the University budget. “This year, the president will make a recommendation to the board based on the activity of the teams and the work of the administration,” Jacobs said. While no set number exists, he said the board and the president expect the review teams to take their charge seriously, which will result in savings and revenue for the University. Jacobs said the president’s office has provided no strict metric or guideline the teams are to use. “We did provide examples from other institutions that the teams could reference,” he said. “But we did not dictate a standard document.”
He said the metrics created by the teams need to loosely address five guiding criteria. “1. Essentiality – History, size, scope, relationship to mission and overall essentiality to the institution; 2. Demand – External and internal demand, including enrollments and numbers served; 3. Quality – For program inputs, outputs and process quality; 4. Cost Effectiveness – Revenues and other resources generated against all costs associated with the program, including standard productivity measures; and 5. Opportunity – Impact, justification and expansion prospects,” Jacobs said. On Oct. 16, a meeting was held in which the budget planning and review team chairs met with President Dunn to touch base and report preliminary suggestions. “We wanted to reiterate the
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