Phase 1 of Strategic Budget Initiative

This Phase 1 process was holistic, integrated, and iterative and involves our whole campus community, with leadership from vice chancellors, deans, and shared governance leaders. Between November 2022 and March 2023, a support team composed of a representative from the CU Denver Budget Office, representatives from the Provost Office, and third-party advisers specializing in financial strategy and change management has worked with each dean and administrative unit leader, with input from shared governance leadership, to take a critical look at their operations and budgets to identify key reductions, innovative ideas, and redesigns that would  a.) enable us to balance our overall budget and b.) position their units—and the institution—for strategic growth down the line. That dean/unit leader also brought their own team to the table.

The groups reviewed a host of data and determine how to use different tools for decision making. These included:

• Decision Support Toolkit
• Insight Guides
• Historical persistence, retention, graduation, and enrollment data by program
• Enrollment targets in alignment with the strategic enrollment management plan
• Market intelligence
• University and unit-level budget information
• Human Resources information
• Departmental and unit DEI plans
• Case studies from other universities
• Assistance with organizational design

Faculty Assembly, Staff Council, and Student Government Association leaders received the full suite of proposals submitted by schools, colleges, and units, and were invited into a consultative discussion with cabinet and deans in late February about which proposals to move forward. This structure was determined through a series of meetings with shared governance leaders, Provost Constancio Nakuma, and Executive Vice Chancellor of Administration and Strategy Jennifer Sobanet to develop a RACI Matrix for this project. A RACI Matrix is a common project management tool that allows stakeholders to determine, in advance of a project, who needs to be consulted or informed in each step of the project, and who is responsible and accountable for the work of the project.

Following a request from Chancellor Michelle Marks, the budget office performed a detailed analysis on salaries and positions to help address this concern in academic year 2023. The data shows that between 2020 and 2023, the number of positions with titles Assistant Vice Chancellor and above is exactly the same and salaries among these positions are flat on the whole. These findings were shared with Faculty Assembly leadership and to the broader campus community through an information session in February 2023. Going forward, we will not continue to offer this level of analysis, as the leadership and budget team need to remain focused on strategy and enrollment growth.

In phase 1, we asked all schools, colleges, and units to contribute budget reductions. In phase 2, schools, colleges, and units will likely need to make additional cuts, however much of our focus will be on identifying cross-unit ideas and transformational shifts that allow us to become more strategic in our resource use at the institutional level.

Every member of the CU Denver community contributes to the mission of the university and has a role to play in student success and our financial future. We invited members of the community to routinely refer to our dedicated project website for updates, review all-campus email updates, attend office hours hosted by the budget planning team, and participate in bi-weekly information sessions hosted by Chancellor Michelle Marks, Provost Constancio Nakuma, and then-EVC of Administration and Strategy Jennifer Sobanet. Additionally, faculty and staff were invited to participate in the processes established within their own schools, colleges, and units. We need broad participation from faculty, staff, and students to reach our 2030 vision.

Yes. All approved proposals have been made available on this website through a Tableau dashboard.

While that was originally the plan, we have made the difficult decision to pause our planning for six months because of unfavorable market conditions and skyrocketing construction costs. This is obviously disappointing news, and we did not arrive at this decision lightly. We remain committed to finding innovative ways to conceptualize, finance, and build our engineering, building, if possible, because engineering, computing, and tech are in-demand and growing fields for our students, and we have seen strong enrollment growth in these areas. This would be a long-term investment for our campus. It is also important to note that the planned budget for the engineering building was not funded from our education and general (E&G) funds and, therefore, pausing the engineering building will not improve or worsen our current ongoing campus budget.

It will not. The planned budget for the engineering building was not funded from our education and general (E&G) funds. Since we have not issued debt, debt service for the engineering building is not incorporated into the E&G budget for FY 2022-23 or assumptions for FY 2023-24. Therefore, pausing the engineering building will not impact our current ongoing campus budget, nor will it change the work we are doing through the budget realignment initiative.

Being Colorado’s only urban public research institution is a differentiator for us, and one of the many reasons that our students—and faculty—choose to come to CU Denver. Research from our faculty brings important societal benefits to our state and world, and students at all levels benefit from a comprehensive research program as part of their formation and academic and career progressions. Naturally, just like any other category, we need to evaluate our research budget to make sure our investments are strategic, but we don’t have any plans to abandon our research mission.

At the February Board of Regents meeting, some of the CU campuses proposed scenarios with tuition increases of up to 5%, which would go into effect in fall 2023. Additionally, in keeping with university practice, CU Denver would increase financial aid to help offset financial increases for lower-income students. Increases to student fees are still being discussed and will be finalized before the April Board of Regents meeting.