The Strategic Planning and Implementation Group (SPIG) meets with each unit dean and their staff to review unit strategic planning and its alignment with the overall university mission, goals, and outcomes. Guided by the University’s 2020 Strategic Plan and 21st Century University Initiative, each academic unit academic performance, enrollment and revenue targets, outcomes and budget are reviewed. SPIG also meets with other university administrators proposing initiatives that are interdisciplinary and not focused in a particular unit. Guided by established university operating budget principles, SPIG receives and reviews unit new budget requests as well as budget requests from other university initiatives not focused in a unit (an example would be new funding to enhance diversity across the university). Using a systematic, ongoing, integrated, research and data-driven academic strategy, SPIG recommends priorities for new funding to the Provost and the Council of Academic Officers using established operating budget principles.
In prioritizing budget requests, SPIG reviews unit enrollment trends, teaching loads, program demand, return on investment, whether the request is specific to a unit or is a university-wide need/initiative, unit resources and willingness of unit to share in the investment, justification of need, etc. The Vice Provost for Graduate Affairs/Dean of the School of Interdisciplinary and Graduate Studies (SIGS) is excluded from deliberations regarding SIGS unit budget requests.