Resolution Establishing a Standing University Faculty Senate
Budget Committee
WHEREAS, the
Faculty Senate Ad Hoc Committee on RBB has met numerous times
and has issued its report to the Senate with recommendations, which include the
reconstitution of a standing Senate Budget Committee; and
WHEREAS, it
would be beneficial in many ways to the University of Delaware to have a high
degree of transparency of the budgetary processes of the University as a
whole and of the academic units within it; and
WHEREAS, the
Faculty Senate should have a formal mechanism to give timely advice to the
administration of the University about how potential budgetary decisions will
influence the many academic and research endeavors of the University; and
WHEREAS, other
excellent universities maintain University Budget Committees with substantial
faculty representation, which advise their administrations about budgetary
issues; be it therefore,
RESOLVED, that
the University Faculty Senate shall establish a standing University Faculty
Senate Budget Committee, with representation by faculty from each of its
colleges, charged with the responsibilities of
1) becoming fully informed on the financial and planning issues of this
University. Specifically, it shall examine University budgets,
financial statements and other related documents used in developing budgetary
plans. The committee may receive
confidential information, and must respect the confidentiality of this
information.
2) reviewing and providing timely prospective advice, prior to finalizing budget turnaround decisions, concerning the University's annual budgets, the processes used to
determine them, and their potential impact on the academic, research and
outreach missions of the University to the President, Provost, Deans and other officers of administration with
responsibility for the University's annual budgets.
3) communicating information about the University's annual
budgets and their potential impact on academic programs to the University
Faculty Senate and to the University Faculty as a whole.
This committee is authorized to confer with
other Senate committees and with University budget personnel as appropriate.
The Committee shall consist of seven faculty
members (one from each College), the majority of whom shall be
tenured. The Committee on Committees and Nominations shall appoint
the faculty members for this committee for terms of three
years. Appointments shall be scheduled such that the faculty member’s
terms will expire in a staggered manner. The Committee on Committees
and Nominations shall appoint annually the chairperson from the seven faculty members. An
eighth member of the committee shall be appointed annually by the Provost as
his or her designee, and this member shall serve to facilitate interactions
between the committee and relevant administrative offices.