Although campus is growing, over the last two years the university is spending more than it’s bringing in.

WSU President Kirk Schulz announced his intentions to reform the university’s budget process in a newsletter released at the end of May.

His statement is a positive step for the university and its new president — and it’s a no brainer that the university’s deficit spending needs to be addressed.

He cited reserve spending on construction projects without clearly identified funding as a chief concern and called for the reintroduction of a formalized budget process.

Joan King, chief university budget officer, said Schulz’s statement is more about getting the university’s ducks in a row than criticizing WSU’s process.

“He was addressing a couple of instances where we had non-state funded projects that we got started on where we had some pledges of funding that didn’t come to fruition,” King said. “We’re no longer going to begin until we’re certain that we have all the funding identified.”

Schulz also wrote he intends to have all items brought before the regents to be comprehensively financially analyzed – meaning more eyes on the page.

“My understanding is, his budget team in Kansas did a process very much like what we used to do here at WSU, and what he’s saying here is he would like to use a broader, more inclusive process,” King said. “We’re going to have the entire senior management team talk about the entire budget – everybody will be around the table.”

Board of Regents Chair Lura Powell said more input can add more time to a project, but is critical in the long run.

“I always believe that with any project, when you get a full range of input, it becomes stronger,” Powell said. “So by making statements in his letter to all of the staff and leadership across campus, he wants to make sure that everybody has plenty of input into a project before it comes to us.”

Having more chances for input could improve future buildings — and allows students more opportunities to decide on what is done with their money.

King said that due to a handful of variables, like funding, building size or available donors, it’s not possible to predict if future projects will be impacted by the new process.

“None of the buildings we have underway will be affected,” King said. “It may extend the timelines for new proposals that are funded on some types of money – donor funds or grants for instance. It should not extend the timelines for buildings that are state-funded.”

King said that because the university is constantly growing, in Pullman and as well as on satellite campuses, construction is a big part of the university’s future.

“Our enrollment is growing, we’re growing our research enterprise, and we’re going to be instituting a medical school in Spokane,” King said. “This construction is in support of this desire to move forward, to have more students, to have more programs, and to expand our outreach within our state, the nation and the world.”

Schulz’s transparent process isn’t new – at Kansas State, Schulz released monthly letters to campus, where he outlined university updates and connected with faculty, staff and students.

“He’s a pretty open communicator – he sends out letters, he’s on Twitter regularly,” King said. “It was a change for us to have these conversations about the university this openly – so maybe that’s what caught everybody’s eye.”

More transparency about the budget and other university issues can help peak student involvement as well as faculty and staff, leading to a more proactive and aware campus.

Before 2009, WSU had a formalized budget process like the one Schulz plans to reintroduce, but budget cuts changed how the university’s budget was handled.

“The state’s economic environment began to change in 2009 as the state’s revenue stagnated and began falling,” King said. “The focus for budget meetings became the here-and-now — how to handle the significant state budget cuts year after year, while still providing quality education for our growing student population.”

King said now that state funding has stabilized, it makes sense to return to a more formalized process.

Powell said she and the rest of the board are pleased with Schulz’s progress.

“I think he’s starting on a terrific path and we all have tremendous confidence in him,” Powell said. “We had very high expectations for him and with what I’ve seen in the short period of time since we selected him, I feel quite sure that those expectations are not only going to be met, but exceeded.”

All in all, Schulz is starting off on the right foot. The budget is key to running any university and monitoring its effectiveness will be necessary to support WSU expansion.

Alysen Boston is a senior communication major from Baltimore, Maryland. She can be contacted at 335-2290 or by [email protected]. The opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of the staff of The Daily Evergreen or those of The Office of Student Media.