Under University President the Rev. Scott Pilarz’s administration changes this year, Marquette has established the University Financial Planning and Review Committee in place of the former University Budget Committee.
“The goal was to build a body representative of all areas of campus — students, faculty and administrators — that is advisory to the president and supports the financial planning and program review functions for the university,” said Chuck Lamb, vice president for finance and chair of the committee, in an emailed statement.
The biggest difference in the new committee is transparency for students, according to Brittany Riesenbeck, financial vice president of Marquette Student Government. The committee will look to help develop a balanced capital budget, project long-term implications of the annual budget and conduct financial analyses of selected programs.
To accomplish this transparency, the committee has incorporated two students — Riesenbeck, a sophomore in the College of Business Administration, and Michael McGuire, a graduate student in the School of Management — as well as two teachers, Daniel Blinka, a professor of law, and Anne Clough, a professor of mathematics. The group met once a week last semester with administrators and Pilarz to coordinate university budgets.
According to Riesenbeck, the old University Budget Committee met only two to three times a year. Meetings of the new committee thus far have consisted of faculty, students and colleges presenting proposals to request funding.
Allowing students into the loop is a big change and allows them to see where the university is headed. Riesenbeck has seen her role as a go-between.
“I like that I am a liaison between students and the university,” she said.
With the recent tuition increase for the 2012-13 academic year, the committee is making sure to keep students informed. Lamb said he periodically meets with the MUSG executive council to update the student body on new financial outcomes.
“It is helpful to show tuition increases aren’t coming out of thin air,” Riesenbeck said.
She also pointed out that Marquette is one of the few universities that are not experiencing layoffs or furloughs, which shows it is still taking care of its faculty.
McGuire, the graduate student on the committee, said he appreciates its focus on students.
“The university is doing a great job but it’s nice for a student to be in there and make sure the right focuses are on the students being taken care of properly,” McGuire said.
The group also includes an administrative faculty member of each college to make sure no area of the university is unrepresented.
“I think it’s smart to have all these different department heads get into a room and make sure every area has a voice,” McGuire said. “It’s an open process and it makes sure every department knows where the money is going.”
The committee’s discussion areas are posted online after each meeting and are available for public view on the University Office of Finance’s website. In the last year, some Marquette budget discussions included an endowment overview, the 2013 fiscal year enrollment projections, presentations from the school of dentistry and a 2013 fiscal year presentation on graduate school operations.
“Marquette works hard to contain costs, identify efficiencies, invest wisely and raise funds in order to provide an excellent education that is as affordable as possible,” Lamb said. “We want students to be a part of that process and understand where their money goes.”