Budget forum gives voice
Student will have a chance to voice their opinion at the first in a series of forums regarding CMU’s budget and financial planning process.
The forum will take place at 11 a.m. Tuesday in the Bovee University Center Auditorium and is sponsored by the Budget Review Advisory Council, which gets input from faculty and student representatives and serves as an advisory group to University President Michael Rao regarding budget issues. It is open to anyone who has an interest in how the university plans and implements its annual budget, said Mike Silverthorn, Public Relations and Marketing executive director of news services.
The session will include an overview of revenue sources and operating budgets, a report on the 2003-2004 operating budget, a discussion of ongoing budget challenges and a question-and-answer session.
“The purpose of the forum is to educate the campus about our budget process and how decisions are made,” said George Ross, vice president of finance and administrative services. “In the initial forum, we want to bring closure to the current year budget and talk to people about what we see as challenges in the current fiscal year.”
Silverthorn said last year’s budget forums were successful and Ross wanted to continue those this year.
“There were a couple in the spring that were focused on the current budget challenges last spring — a couple state callbacks in appropriations, some positions that were eliminated,” Silverthorn said. “Those were well received and to keep the communication lines going we want to continue those into this year.”
Ross said the forum will be the first of three potential forums on CMU’s budget this semester — each with a slightly different focus.
“We’re currently trying to do three this semester,” he said. “We’ll be doing a second one with the (Student Government Association) on the 20th and a third one in November.”
Because Tuesday’s forum will take place in the morning, Ross said he doesn’t expect many students to attend, but he hopes to reach a mass of students at the SGA meeting. Though he hopes to achieve the same success as last year’s forums, Ross said he is unsure what attendance will be.
“The forums we did last year, we would have 100-plus in the auditorium,” he said. “We’re encouraging a large turnout. The more people know about our budget, the better it’s put together.”
Ross said if anyone cannot attend the forum, they can submit their questions to the BRAC.
