In an effort to clarify any confusion and uncertainty about Strategic Resource Investment, I thought it would be helpful to state clearly what it is not.  As we discussed at various meetings and as provided on the website, the SRI initiative is to develop a better, more responsive, transparent and flexible way to provide information useful in making resource allocation decisions for the University.  Currently there is a steering committee working to explore the issues learned from other schools and to develop a model for resource allocation that is uniquely defined to fit the University of Memphis.  You can read more about this on the SRI webpage (http://www.memphis.edu/sri/) and associated SRI Forum.

SRI is NOT is responsible for previous budget decisions nor current efforts to deal with budget shortfalls (i.e. the $20 million gap we’ve been addressing).  These are a result of the current financial and higher education environment, enrollment declines, and lack of flexibility and agility in the current budget allocation model and have to be addressed regardless of whether or not we change our budgeting process.  One reasonable expectation of the new SRI model will be to create a process that helps the University and programs grow and be better positioned to deal with a dynamic higher education environment, one characterized by dramatic changes in enrollment and state funding.

SRI is NOT is responsible for current efforts to reorganize the administrative structure of the University.  Reorganization is in response to the previous budget shortfall, and targeted to meet the budget reduction needed, along with creating a more efficient organizational structure.  This is part of a process that can be referred to as “right sizing”.  It is definitely compatible with the principles of SRI in that it moves more responsibility out of the central units to the colleges and schools plus eliminates duplication within our administrative units.  These changes are moving forward regardless of our financial model.

At this point, the final SRI model has not been determined, nor a draft fully developed.  Over the next few months that process should be nearly complete and the next step is to actively seek feedback from all segments of the University.  I hope there will be broad and active participation in these efforts.

As mentioned in the tagline of this forum, the purpose is to facilitate a dialog around the Strategic Resource Investment initiative (SRI).  This forum is a place members of the University of Memphis community can ask questions and express concerns or comments as we go through the development of our model for SRI.  The webpages for the initiative (www.memphis.edu/sri) will continue to be updated with more detailed information and the current status of the initiative.  Any suggestions for improvements, corrections, or clarifications to this website are also greatly appreciated.

There have been several questions that have come from discussions with Deans and Department Chairs and we will start the dialog by addressing several of those over the next few posts.  In this post, I want to focus on a few common points about the philosophy of our SRI initiative.   The underlying goal is to develop a more transparent procedure for the allocations of the resources of the University – the people, facilities, and finances.  It is much more than a simple budget allocation process.  Much of the detail that will be discussed is on the allocation of revenues and costs but the true goal is to setup the conversations on the priorities and the allocation of resources to follow those priorities.

Within an SRI model, the financial responsibility and accountability, as well as resulting resources, are managed at the college level.  This is aligning the responsibility at the level of the people who have the best knowledge about our programs.  The recent plan eliminating the “central pool” for graduate student tuition is one example.  Going forward there will no longer be a central administration controlled pool of funds that are drawn from each year as those funds are now budgeted as part of the college budgets under their control.  There is no longer a blank check provided to departments for tuition as they award stipends to individual students.   This does mean colleges will have to be responsible for knowing and planning the complete cost of each student.  On the flip side, colleges will also have the ability to tailor the use of these funds in ways best suited for the graduate program within that college.

The above is just one example of how responsibilities are shifted out of the central administration to the college level along with direct benefits leading to revenue increases.    I hope you will all read the “Guiding Principles” and “What the Model Will/Will Not Do” sections of the SRI webpage.  We look forward to your feedback and further discussions as this new model is developed.