CON Budget/Financial Principles and Practice

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UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA MEDICAL CENTER COLLEGE OF NURSING
Budget/Financial Principles and Practices	Subsection: Appendix E
Section - Information	Originating Date: January, 2009
Responsible Reviewing Agency: Executive Council	Revised: January, 2015

College Budget Priorities

• Salary for faculty and staff
• Faculty recruitment
• Technology
• Facilities for all divisions
• Faculty travel to professional meetings at which PI or first author is presenting
• Professional development for faculty and staff

Fund Distribution Guidelines

Extramural research funding

Extramural funding agencies (whether federal, state, or local for research or other special projects) should provide universities with faculty salary support and indirect cost revenue. In this way, universities are able to recover some of the costs incurred in doing such research or other projects. In turn, and to the extent possible within the context of the College’s missions, faculty grantees are released from their university responsibilities and spend this portion of their time and effort on the externally funded projects that are paying that portion of their salary.

Indirect cost revenue

Indirect cost return, also known as facilities and administrative (F&A) costs, results from extramural grants and contracts. F & A dollars are distributed to NU and UNMC, and the College receives a lesser portion. These funds are used by the Dean in service of the College’s research mission, and largely support the Niedfelt Nursing Research Center.

Salary supplemental compensation

Faculty who hold an appointment of at least .5 FTE and the academic rank of instructor or above are eligible for NU’s Supplemental Compensation Plan. The Plan pertains to faculty who are PI, Co-PI, or Co-I of an extramural research grant or senior Project Director or Co-Project Director of an extramural training or practice grant/contract. The issue of supplemental compensation applies only when a portion of the person’s salary is compensated by the grant/contract. By NU policy, maximum salary supplement is 50% of freed up dollars, not to exceed 25% of base University salary. The award of supplemental compensation is at the discretion of the Dean and depends on such factors as workload adjustments and costs of the project to the College. Department Chairs and Division Assistant Deans recommend salary supplement percents to the Dean. In addition, they encourage faculty to allocate at least some of their supplemental compensation to a Professional Development Account, given the limited College dollars for professional development and travel.

Faculty clinical practice revenue

The College has a Clinical Revenue Distribution Plan for faculty who are providing direct clinical nursing services within their faculty role as negotiated through the CON’s Morehead Center for Nursing Practice. Revenue distribution is based on revenue exceeding expenses to the College, as follows. Faculty are encouraged to allocate at least some of their compensation to a Professional Development Account.

Faculty Member	50%
Dept/Div	30%
Morehead Center for Nsg. Practice	15%
Dean’s Office	5%
EXCEPTION: 9 month faculty summer/holiday time
Faculty Member	85%
Morehead Center for Nsg. Practice	15%

 

Professional Development Accounts

Professional development accounts are established at the request of individual faculty to hold funds generated by supplemental compensation, faculty clinical practice, consultations, or other revenue earnings within the faculty role.

Expenditures from professional development funds are subject to University and State regulations. These funds are used for professional activities and not personal use. Examples of appropriate expenses are:

• Travel to professional conferences
• Membership in professional organizations
• Supplies/services to promote professional activities (e.g., publications, printing of presentation materials, editing of manuscripts)
• Equipment to promote professional development (e.g., computer hardware/software, personal data devices). NOTE: all equipment purchased with professional development funding is the property of the University
• Salary and benefit costs for support personnel (e.g., graduate assistant, transcriptionist, hourly worker for research data entry)

Examples of disallowed expenditures include:

• Office decoration/artwork
• Flowers
• Alcoholic beverages
• Membership in organizations not related to the faculty role
• Equipment for personal/home use (unless such reverts back to the University once the project is completed)

Faculty Development Supported by Department/Division

Department/Division development accounts are used to support the career advancement and educational goals for 9 and 12 month faculty who are .5 FTE and above. Chairs and Division Deans may approve:

• travel and associated costs of professional meetings
• books or journal subscriptions
• professional memberships
• training costs for professional purposes
• equipment purchases with approval of Associate Dean for Research or Assistant Dean for Information and Learning Technologies, as may apply (reminder: all equipment purchased with University dollars is University-owned equipment.)

The College has a list of priorities (also see Travel Policy) to guide Chairs/Division Deans’ decision-making for resource allocation related to travel. Priority for approval of travel requests follows:

• Presentation of scholarly papers
• Meetings of regional, national or international organizations of which the College is a member and should be represented for voting and information purposes, e.g., American Association of Colleges of Nursing, Midwest Nursing Research Society, Sigma Theta Tau International
• Travel to receive a regional, national or international award or recognition
• Meetings of regional, national or international organizations of which the individual is a member and who can network to recruit faculty or students and otherwise increase visibility of the College
• Workshops and conferences for faculty and staff development and/or to promote the CON strategic plan, e.g., teaching, practice and research at the College

With regard to international travel, when possible the College supports a reasonable contribution toward a foreign trip based on available resources at the Chair/Division Dean’s discretion and recommendation to the Dean. Faculty’s request for international travel must be approved by the Dean in advance of commitments and travel arrangements.

For all professional expenditures, sources of support include:

• Individual Faculty Professional Development Accounts
• Department/Division travel budget allocations
• Department/Division development accounts

Summer Salary

When monies are available, 9-month faculty are eligible to apply for up to three months of summer salary to support projects and initiatives approved by the College. Projects and initiatives must be aligned with the College’s strategic plan. In the fall of each year, assuming the budget allows, the Executive Council evaluates the greatest need for the next year and alerts the Summer Salary Committee to the next summer’s focus. No more than twelve months of total salary support (academic plus summer salary) can be approved in a twelve month period.

Budget Process

Budget Activity and Time Line

Unit administrators with budget authority develop a proposed budget for the next fiscal year and are expected to monitor expenditures throughout the year. Budgets are “zero-based,” i.e., expenses and revenues balance with no carry-forward of year-end unexpended balances.

Each unit is responsible for activity planning for the next year. This includes a re-evaluation of assumptions, analyses, plans, and budgets used in the previous year's planning and budgeting process. Since goals and objectives may change from year to year, data that feed plans and budgets must be reevaluated each year to ensure that they reflect today's environment. A budget plan projects resource needs which are translated into dollar figures. For purposes of unit budget planning, the following categories are considered by Department Chairs and Division Deans:

• Personnel
  • identify all necessary positions
  • recommend equity salary adjustments
  • recommend merit increases based on performance
• Operating Costs
  • associated costs of personnel:
    • major travel expenses
    • office equipment, furniture, supplies

Budget Guidelines

• Resource needs, broadly considered, include personnel and operating costs.
• Unit budgets consist of personnel and travel. In addition, Division budgets include operating dollars for basic office equipment and supplies.
• The College Operating Budget was fixed by NU many years ago and is inadequate to meet today’s needs; therefore, the same is true for the Division budgets.
• Salary lines are central and may be moved in order to meet strategic College needs.
• As is the case with many other College activities, a partnership exists between the units and the Dean’s office. Unit administrators are accountable for projecting budgets based on needs; for controlling their budget; and for alerting the Dean’s office to needs beyond their budget. The Dean’s office is responsible for assuring compliance with established funding priorities and budgetary and other guidelines; for oversight of all budgets; and for transfer of funds among cost centers as needed.