Monday, September 30, 2024

Dear UNT Faculty and Staff Colleagues, 

As I shared earlier this month, this fall I have charged our campus leadership to focus attention on reviews of three critical areas: strategic budgeting, research and innovation, and student success. As we make progress across each of these areas, we will share updates and invite input from the campus. Today, I’m excited to share
progress on our strategic budgeting efforts.

Our approach to strategic budgeting will be developed through multiple phases of work, leading up to an initial implementation of a new model in January 2025. My charge to the student, faculty, and staff representatives involved is to develop recommendations for a new budgeting model that will advance UNT’s mission and values. This new budgeting model will be designed to align our university resources with strategic priorities, increase financial transparency, and provide a solid foundation for our future.

Provost Michael McPherson, CFO Clayton Gibson, and I will serve as executive sponsors and champions of this work.

The Strategic Budgeting Steering Committee, comprised of faculty, staff, and students, began meeting this month and will review research and feedback to assess what components of a new model might help advance our mission. This committee is chaired by Dr. Albert Bimper, executive dean in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.

To assist the steering committee in its work and lead implementation efforts, we also have established a Strategic Budgeting Technical Committee that includes budget officers and subject matter experts. Currently, the technical committee is assessing strategic budgeting practices of other higher education institutions. This committee is chaired by Kassie Grubbs, senior director of budget and operations from the Division of Student Affairs.

As this work progresses, the steering committee will post updates on the strategic budgeting website and share regular campus wide communications. I encourage you to take time to learn about this initiative. The committee also will invite your feedback on our proposed model.

These efforts to improve and align our budgeting processes with our mission, values, and strategic priorities will lay essential groundwork for even greater long-term success for UNT. Together, we will strengthen UNT’s capabilities to support our students, facilitate groundbreaking creative contributions, research discoveries, and innovative solutions, and continue to advance excellence for UNT as a great public research university.

Respectfully,

Harrison Keller, Ph.D.
President