1.        What does this Innovative Practice do and how does it work?

MCC’s annual budget planning process is an open process involving everyone in the institution.   The process reviews the college’s current strategic plan and AQIP activities in developing the funding priorities for the next year.   The requests flow from department to area unit to management, going through several prioritization steps along the way.   There are also requests from Student Services, Administration, College President and a “College-Wide” category for items that affect the total institution.   Budget request forms are emailed to all staff in the spring, with instructions for completing them, including the mandate that every requested item must be tied to a specific college goal.   The management team starts reviewing them in May and the college budget is usually finalized by early July.   Requests not prioritized are kept for review throughout the next year in case funds become available to fund more items.

2.        What motivated you to develop or adopt this Innovative Practice?

Years ago the budget process was completed with minimal input from staff.   Administrators made decisions and then notified staff as to what was funded.   The priorities were not tied to strategic direction or instructional programs, thus limiting college growth.   A change in administration brought a request to look at a budgeting process and the current process was implemented.

3.        How long did it take you to develop and implement this Innovative Practice?

After a year of study, the college created the current process; it has been in place for about ten years.    It took a couple of years to gain the trust of staff that their input is valued and needed to make the process work.

4.        What did it cost you to develop and implement this Innovative Practice?

The President’s Cabinet, comprised of administrators, created the current process.   The VPs of Instruction and Finance took the lead in implementing the changes.   There were not any fiscal costs involved, rather manpower as a part of the administrator’s jobs.

5.        What resistance did you face in developing and implementing this Innovative Practice and how did you reduce or overcome it?

The biggest obstacle we faced was to gain the trust of the staff that input was necessary to make it work.   They were used to not having input, and feared their input was not really needed.   Once convinced the process worked, there was much more participation.  

6.        What does it cost to maintain and operate this Innovative Practice, and what does it save you?

There is little cost to maintaining the budget process:   the required manpower on the part of the staff putting together the requests, the management team prioritizing them, and the VP of Finance fitting as much as possible into the college budget.

7.        How do you measure or check whether this Innovative Practice performs the way you intend it to?

Complaints from faculty and staff members about budgets used to be numerous; now they are virtually non-existent.   Other measures include achievement of specific budgetary targets.   For example, a recently identified goal was “getting more money back into the classroom,” (increasing the portion of the budget going directly toward instruction [using criteria defined by NACUBO]); a 2.5% increase was achieved between 04-05 and 05-06.

8.        What print or web documents are available to provide more detail and explanation about this Innovative Practice?

There is a flow chart for the budget process as well as budget request forms available from the VP of Finance.   This flow chart appears in Category 8 (Figure 8.2) of the MCC Systems Portfolio, available at the MCC website.

9.        How does your organization currently use this Innovative Practice?

This is the budget process that the college utilizes to allocate resources for the next year.   All employees of the college may participate in the budget process, though it is not mandatory, and most departments submit one or more requests.   It has proven to be an effective tool for input and resource allocation of funds.

10.    Whom at your organization should people contact for more information or help about this Innovative Practice.

All MCC employees are able to participate in the budget process.   Susan Clough, Vice President for Administration and Finance, 970-542-3127, susan.clough@morgancc.edu

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