Senate Advisory Committee on the University Budget - UTDPP1084

Policy Statement

Title and Purpose

The Senate Advisory Committee on the University Budget is a concurrent committee reporting to the Senate and the President. The purpose of the committee is to advise the Senate and President on the academic implications of the university budget, and to suggest policies on budgetary matters that bear on faculty morale, retention, and productivity, and on the quality and productivity of U T Dallas academic programs.

Membership

The committee shall have seven voting members and three at-large members. One voting member shall be appointed from the faculty of each School and three voting members shall be chosen from the faculty at large for special expertise or interest in institutional budgeting. Members shall serve staggered three year terms. The Vice President for Budget and Finance shall serve as member ex-officio and assure that the Committee receives information on the budget in a form the Committee finds usable. Voting members shall be appointed according to the procedures in Faculty Governance - UTDPP1088 of The University of Texas at Dallas Handbook of Operating Procedures. Vacancies that arise from resignation or departure shall be filled in the same manner.

Reporting

The responsible university official shall be the Provost of the University or the Provost’s designee. The committee will receive the budgetary information at the budget hearings, and provide feedback and advice, to be conveyed to the Senate, Provost, and President. Recommendations shall also be conveyed to the Senate, Provost, and President.

Activities and Schedule

Each year, the committee serves as an oversight committee to ensure transparency of the university budget priorities on the academic programs and teaching and research priorities of the faculty. In addition, the committee shall from time to time analyze issues that affect faculty and the quality and productivity of academic programs. Issues of this kind that the committee may consider could include, but are not limited to:

1. Use of money to attract especially outstanding new faculty.
2. Faculty salary and pay policy, including problems of salary equity, compression, and inversion.
3. Relative budgetary weight of support services and academic personnel.
4. Uses of endowment funds.
5. Tuition and fees, including admission fees.
6. Allocation of faculty positions to the schools and programs in relation to university goals and policies.
7. Student salary scales and policies, including policies regarding salary equity.
8. Availability and cost of campus housing in general and for specific student populations, such as graduate versus undergraduate.
9. Costs and benefits of new programs.
10. The balance to be struck between scholarships based on need and scholarships based on merit.

The committee shall also recommend policies or changes in policy on these matters and other such matters as may seem fit, framing the issues to lead the Senate to an informed discussion.

Annual Reports

Annually, but no later than August 31, the Chair of the Committee shall provide the Speaker of the Faculty with a written report for the Academic Senate of the Committee’s activities for the prior academic year.