Senior Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer Kelly Fox
Like the cycles of the seasons, the university has its own rhythms. With the beginning of spring, visions of commencement and the end of the academic term start to become real.
While the majority of our campus is focused on the successful end of the current semester, a dedicated group under the direction of AVC for Enrollment Management Kevin MacLennan is laser-focused on the fall semester ahead. The Admissions team, in collaboration with many academic and administrative units across the campus, has been travelling, reading applications, giving tours and having personal conversations with thousands of potential new Colorado Buffaloes over the past eight months, and they are in the last few weeks of shaping the Class of 2021.
This collaborative work has led to another amazing year of applications. While we are experiencing a similar decline in international undergraduate applications as our higher education colleagues, domestic applications are up seven percent over this time last year. We are on track to have another talented, diverse and inspiring group of students starting with us this fall.
On Saturday, April 8, the campus will welcome thousands of students for our annual Admitted Students Day—where we can show off our programs, our people and our campus and invite each one of the attendees to imagine how they can Be Boulder. We all have a part in welcoming these students, and I hope if you’re on campus that day you’ll greet the students and their families with a warm, “Go Buffs!”
In my office, the beginning of spring also indicates we are in the last few weeks of the budget process.
Over the last several months, a huge collaborative effort has been underway on the campus. Each unit, department, program and division has done the work to forecast their budget needs for the year ahead. That forecast has moved up through budget officers, deans and vice chancellors; and last month we sat in with the Board of Regents and proposed our vision for fiscal year 2018, beginning July 1, 2017.
By June, the state of Colorado budget (known as the Long Bill) will be passed by the Colorado legislature, and the Board of Regents will also finalize the university budget.
You may have heard the phrase that "a budget is a values document." The budget we have proposed to Board of Regents shows where our values lie, investing in our people, our infrastructure and our future.
Register now for the spring session of Coffee and the Campus Budget
If you want to learn more about the campus budget process and how the university is funded, I invite you to join me for the spring session of Coffee and the Campus Budget. I host two rounds of these discussions each year, one in the fall as the budgeting season gets underway and again in the spring as budgets are finalized for the year ahead.
In April, I will be joined by Interim AVC for Budget and Fiscal Planning Louise Vale, AVC and Campus Controller Laura Ragin, AVC Budget and Fiscal Planning Carla Ho-a and AVC of Integrated Planning and Decision Support Steve Vassallo. This talented panel will help explain the university’s forecast and fiscal models, and the sessions promise to be interesting and informative.
While we may be focusing on the year ahead, I am certainly also feeling gratitude for our present moment. This morning, I heard another round of innovation proposals which remind me yet again of the talent and passion embodied in our university community. These qualities will be evident to our newest Colorado Buffaloes, and we will invest in a university that fosters their growth.
Thank you,
Kelly Fox
Senior Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer
