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Policy Manual
SECTION V: Budget Policies
It is the responsibility of the Dean to ensure the College remains fiscally viable. The Dean will finalize all College budgets. Department Chairs are responsible for ensuring departments operate within their budget allocations. Budget projections and updates throughout the fiscal year are expected of the Chairs. Budget staff will keep departmental and College budget records up-to-date.
The University budget process operates primarily within an incremental-based budgeting model. As such, there is typically little change from one year to the next in terms of total operating budget allocation for the College as a whole. The Dean determines the distribution of operating budget appropriations among the academic departments and administrative support units of the College. The Assistant Dean for Finance and Administrative Services coordinates the planning and preparation of the annual operating budget for the College, which after approval by the Dean, is submitted to the LSU Office of Budget and Planning for approval by Academic Affairs.
The Dean has the responsibility for the administration of budgeted resources allocated by the University to the College. The Assistant Dean for Finance and Administrative Services provides fiscal management and accountability for the budgetary and financial activities which support the academic enterprise of the College. The Chairs are responsible for budgeted resources allocated to the academic departments, and department staff are expected to keep accurate and up-to-date records, including keeping all QuickBooks accounts up-to-date and reconciled. Under the oversight of the Assistant Dean for Finance and Administrative Services, the Coordinator for Post-Award and Accounting and the Accounting Technician in the Dean’s Office of Sponsored Programs and Accounting provide support to the department staff in the management of budgeted resources allocated to the departments, and as such, close collaboration is encouraged and expected.
Within the College’s operating budget appropriation, funds from vacant positions, leave without pay and sabbaticals, research release salaries, and other sources accrue to the College in the form of unexpended salary funds. These funds are the primary source of additional resources for temporary personnel and support for
the annual operating needs of the College and its academic departments and
administrative support units. Funds are provided to the College by the University through the College’s Unexpended Salary funds module and are managed by the Assistant Dean for Finance and Administrative Services at the discretion of the Dean.
Departments will be asked to provide requests for temporary personnel and support needs for the upcoming fiscal year in May or as requested by the Assistant Dean for Finance and Administrative Services based on the University’s budget preparation timeline. Based on the overall need of the College, these departmental requests will be factored into the College’s request for the proposed use of college-wide unexpended salary funds which is submitted each year to the Office of Budget and Planning for approval by Academic Affairs.
Proper financial planning and fiscal management should be practiced so as to avoid account deficits. The College has adopted QuickBooks as the uniform account management software for maintaining account records and reconciling expenditures to the University’s General Ledger System on a monthly basis. Departmental accounting staff are expected to maintain up-to-date records of expenditures and reconcile accounts to the monthly University ledgers. In addition, staff should compile regular department-level financial reports which include projected expenditures based on anticipated spending and historical spending patterns to determine operating budget support fund balances. These reports will guide and assist the Chairs in making resource allocation decision over the course of the fiscal year. Departments are to alert the Assistant Dean for Finance and Administrative Services should financial projections reveal an anticipated account deficit so that corrective action can be taken as soon as possible.
Under the oversight of the Assistant Dean for Finance and Administrative Services, the Coordinator for Post-Award and Accounting in the Dean’s Office of Sponsored Programs and Accounting compiles regular college-wide financial reports on the operating budget support fund balances for the College for review by the Dean. The departmental data are to be submitted by the departmental accounting staff to the Coordinator for Post-Award and Accounting for inclusion in college-wide financial reports.
V.5 Personnel Budget & Position Vacancies
The budget refers to the portion of the budget that includes the non-student personnel categories which must be administered through the University’s Unexpended Salary module. This would include all temporary teaching and non-teaching appointments, additional compensation and temporary supplements, and State-funded summer research salary. Funds from position vacancies also accrue to the College’s Unexpended Salary module on a temporary basis each fiscal year that the position remains vacant. Vacant positions revert to the College until such time as the position is re-allocated to an academic unit by the Dean based on determined need.
V.6 Support Budget
The support budget refers to all student (graduate assistant and student employees) and non-personnel budget categories such as travel, operating services, telecommunications, materials and supplies, professional services, equipment, and other charges.
