July 2021 Finance Town Hall

Adam Day, AVP Associate Treasurer hosted the July 20, 2021 Finance Town Hall that was attended by more than 300 people from across the university. He expressed his gratitude from his 33 Knightsbridge office and eagerness to “see everyone in person” soon. With a few ground rules set, the stage was ready for presentations. The meeting presentation and recording is posted, here’s a recap of how the meeting unraveled.

Responsibility Center Management (RCM): Five-Year Review

Brian Ballentine, Senior Vice President for Strategy started his presentation by giving background on the Responsibility Center Management (RCM) budget model. The RCM budget model “aligns with the university priorities, support interdisciplinary activities and collaboration. It also promotes transparency and clarity,” Brian said. However, feedback from the recent survey indicated that, across the campuses, schools, and departments, the design of the current budget model hinders interdisciplinary efforts and collaboration across budget lines, making it difficult for transparency and collaboration. The review and prioritization of the RCM model begins immediately and will continue through fiscal year 2022. Read the RCM at Rutgers: Five-Year Review Report for details and more information.

FY 2022 Budget: A Budget that Reflects Our Priorities

David Moore, Associate Vice President and Chief Budget Officer reported that this fiscal year budget spends $4.8 billion on the things that are most important to us. “77.9% is spent on our core missions of student instruction, research, public service and patient care, 14.5% is spent on administration, operations and maintenance, 4.8% is spent on auxiliary enterprise and 2.8% is spent on Athletics,” David stated. He continued to say that our aim is to keep Rutgers among the most affordable major public research universities in our peer groups. Rutgers’ annual budget reflects the values of the university in fulfilling its core priorities of outstanding teaching, research, service, and clinical care, while providing the best academic experience for our students.

Lease Administration and Scarlet Journey

John Fahey, Associate Vice President and Project Management Office Executive shared updates on the new Governmental Accounting Standards Board on lease accounting (GASB Statement No. 87). The Lease Administration Program establishes a single approach to accounting and reporting for real estate and equipment leases. This includes extensive qualitative and quantitative disclosures from the University Controller Office (UCO), in collaboration with University Procurement Services and Institutional Planning and Operations (IP&O) – Real Estate.

He also shared the latest updates on Scarlet Journey, the Enterprise CRM Initiative, which has delivered five out of six major releases. The final major release of Phase 1 will be on August 2 and August 23, respectively, introducing a new Rutgers application portal, reading/decision experience, and case management.