May 7, 2020
TO: Provost Prakash and Vice Chancellors Champagne, Hinzman, Queen
and Peter
FROM: Daniel M. White, Chancellor
RE: FY21-FY22 Budget Planning Scenarios – Update for BOR Audit Committee
on May 13, 2020
Thank you all for your contributions to the attached spreadsheet. The spreadsheet was prepared at the request of UA President Johnsen in preparation for a special Audit Committee meeting with the Board of Regents. The sheet represents the submissions that I received from each of you from your units’ planning. This is a high level FY21-FY22 budget action summary for planning purposes.
This detail was requested to improve the level of information on actions being discussed to meet the budget reductions in FY21, in addition to considering prior year budget shortfalls where UAF has not yet been fully able to meet the reduction in a base context. This is generally due to the timing of the budget release to the university last fall as well as the timing associated with expedited academic program and administrative reviews.
The unit level planning represented in the attached spreadsheet represents an adjustment to some of our planning to reflect revised budgeting guidance received from UA President Johnsen in a memo dated April 25, 2020. This guidance requires UAF to be at the new base reduction levels by the end of FY22. This new level is calculated at a $22.2 million reduction in state unrestricted general funds, and must factor in planning to support $5.1 million in possible compensation increases, for a total of $27.3 million by the end of FY22. For UAF, this is compounded by the roughly $6.7 million that cannot be met in FY20 due to the timing referred to above. The new UA guidance also changes the thresholds for how we manage unreserved fund balance (UFB) and the debt reserve by the end of FY22, which impacts some of our previous plans and requires a deeper look at base reductions in the coming years.
COVID-19 is, of course, a significant and unpredicted impact, which is also now included as part of the current planning to the best of our ability. We expect some reimbursement for revenue loss and student support in this area. VCAS Julie Queen will continue to work with UA leadership to ensure all available opportunities for funding are explored.
This package is not yet reflective of decisions made in all the units and I recognize that many things could change at the UA level, at the UAF level and within your areas and units. The goal is to provide transparency for the BOR on the many reductions being actively considered. It also shows that UAF has plans to meet the state-required UGF cuts and is additionally planning for more base reductions to meet President Johnsen’s guidance by the end of FY22. All plans are dynamic at various levels and will continue to be refined or changed as conditions change.
I continue to welcome feedback on larger scale changes or structures, and will continue to seek input from the UAF community at large to ensure decisions executed are sustainable as we re-envision UAF offerings and services. Thank you for contributing to this plan and we will continue to adjust moving forward as new information is available.
DMW:jdp
/Attachment (included in memo PDF below)