UNews - Task Force on Budget Process

An opportunity to contribute to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ vision

trevor.kenney — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 21:34:04 +0000

Fall is always such an invigorating time at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and I'm excited to welcome everybody to campus to begin another academic year. Whether you are a new student, staff or faculty member, or are returning from a summer break, it's great to have the campus bustling with energy again.

As you make your way around the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, you'll no doubt notice many of the physical changes that have taken place over the summer as well as some of the ongoing projects that continue to reshape and redefine our culture.

Now in our 45th year, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ has grown and matured dramatically since its inception, and with a rapidly changing post-secondary landscape, must continue to evolve to meet the needs of our students and society as a whole.

President Mahon encourages everyone to take some time think about how they can contribute to the vision of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

In the spring, I released an Open Letter to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ community that began the discussion about the future direction of the U of L. It was a means to introduce some initial thoughts on our strategic goals and priorities and to bring forth questions related to our future direction. Now, it is time to hear from you.

What do you think about the future of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge? What does it mean to you that we are Alberta's Destination ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and how does that shape the work you do for the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ today and in the future? What is your vision in terms of continuing to grow as a comprehensive university and how do you see the future structure of our university reflecting our academic and research aspirations?

I encourage you to take another look at the Open Letter (www.uleth.ca/president/presentations-communication) and to think of the themes introduced. There will be various opportunities for your feedback and your ideas will help shape the future direction of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

The first such opportunity is the Sept. 27 Fiat Lux Address (3 to 4 p.m., ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Theatre), which will be given by Provost & Vice-President (Academic), Dr. Andrew Hakin. The theme of his presentation is liberal education, how we now define it at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge and what it means to us going forward.

This is an excellent opportunity to not only hear Dr. Hakin's interpretation, but it is a forum at which you can bring your ideas to the fore in an open discussion.

On Oct. 1 (8:30 a.m. to 2:45 p.m., Students' Union Ballrooms), a Strategic Priorities Forum will present another opportunity for the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ community to engage in the decision-making process. Born out of the President's Task Force on Budget Process, this forum is designed to create greater transparency around priority setting from senior leaders across the institution.

Look for further communication in the UWeekly newsletter, on campus web pages and on digital signage for times and locations of upcoming forums as these are a valuable opportunity to give a voice to your ideas – the people who make the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge such a wonderful and unique community.

This story first appeared in the September 2012 issue of the Legend. For a look at the full issue in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Spoulos keeps finding his way back to the U of L

trevor.kenney — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 20:30:08 +0000

If it wasn't inevitable that Doug Spoulos (BMgt '87) would eventually return to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, at the very least it wasn't surprising.

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's associate vice-president (finance) has a deeply rooted history with the U of L, so it seemed only right that circumstance aligned to bring him into the fold once again in spring 2011. He graduated from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in 1987, previously worked for the U of L, met his wife on campus and has a stepson who chose to come to the U of L from their home in Calgary.

So when it was time to get away from the busy Calgary lifestyle and apply the experience he'd gained in private sector positions, the U of L was there once again.

"We were looking to Lethbridge and this was the perfect job," says Spoulos. "It was a good experience for us in Calgary. I had the chance to work in a couple different industries and when I left I was the vice-president of finance, so I was getting the experience I wanted. But our kids were at an age where we wanted something a little slower and a little more relaxed – this opportunity was too good to pass up."

Doug Spoulos is instrumental in bringing people to the table to discuss priorities in the new budget process.

A chartered accountant by trade, Spoulos had worked the last several years acquiring the broad business experience he'd need for his new role at the
U of L.

"In my last position, I had the chance to work beyond the accounting side of things and look at the business aspect as well, how businesses run and how they operate. That's the more interesting part, because you can sit there and just work on the numbers or you can take those numbers and figure out how to apply them and determine what the business should be doing."

His first order of business at the U of L was to play a key role on the President's Task Force on Budget Process, the mandate of which was to review the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's budget process and make recommendations to the executive team supporting both short and long term planning.

Consisting of President Mike Mahon, executive director representatives Carrie Takeyasu and Chris Eagan, dean representatives Chris Hosgood and Rob Wood, Spoulos and the group sought input from throughout the U of L community on the budget process.

"The number one thing that came out of those meetings was a consensus that people wanted to tie budget priorities to the Strategic Plan," says Spoulos. "They wanted to see a rationale as to why money was going where it was going."

Another emergent theme came from the existing budget committee, its members expressing that the three-year sitting term was not long enough to gain a full understanding of the process to make their contributions effective.

"The basic conclusion we came to was that we already have a group of people who have a good understanding of the budget process," says Spoulos. "Those on the committee should be the people who are responsible for the budgets in their units, the deans and executive directors."

In not wanting to exclude the rest of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ community from the process, the task force recommended that business units and faculty members have input through priority presentations, within their units and faculty councils, that speak to their specific areas.

"It's a build-from-the-ground-up approach when it comes to setting priorities," says Spoulos. "Priority presentations are not about dollars, they're about what priorities you've established in your area. We look at them, the themes, and prioritize them in relation to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's Strategic Plan and decide whether they should be funded. These presentations are open to the entire ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ community. It gives everybody the opportunity to see what is being funded and why. You might not agree with every decision but at least the process is transparent and you can see the rationale behind the decision."

A third key theme of discovery centred on the timing of the budget process. Having always worked on a September to March cycle, Faculties indicated that to hire the most desirable candidates, they needed to start looking for people in November and December, far before they had any idea of what budget dollars were available to them. The cycle has now been adjusted to work from April to October.

"This first year will be a pretty difficult transition year because by the time this recommendation was made, we'd already put ourselves a month behind in the new system," says Spoulos.

As a result, the priority presentation process has been pushed back from June 25 to September.

"At the end of the day, our goal is to make the entire budget process transparent and accessible, so that everybody understands what goes into the creation of the budget," says Spoulos. "We want to make it equitable, so that not only do people have input into the process, but the right people have input."

GET THE FACTS

· The final report from the President's Task Force on Budget Process can be viewed at www.uleth.ca/president

· Spoulos met his wife, Bev, when they both worked at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ previously. She just started a new position at the U of L as an administrative assistant in the Department of Native American Studies

· Spoulos and his wife have three children, two daughters aged 12 and 13, and a son who is entering his second year of psychology at the U of L

· Prior to his first term at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, Spoulos worked at KPMG as a chartered accountant, auditor and manager

This story first appeared in the June 2012 issue of the Legend. For a look at the entire issue in flipbook format, follow this link.

Defining the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's future

trevor.kenney — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 22:06:18 +0000

January 2012 Open Mike

Happy New Year everyone and welcome back to campus.

As we begin 2012, our 45th anniversary year, it is important to focus our efforts to develop and implement intentional strategies that will support our continuing maturation as a comprehensive, destination university.

Current budget challenges dictate that we are faced with difficult choices, but this can be seen as an opportunity to be intentional in how we develop and mature as an institution.

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge President Mike Mahon.

When I talk with faculty colleagues and hear of their aspirations and what they want to accomplish in the coming years, I am convinced that this is a time to be bold.

It is also a time to work together to define and build our future.

We are in the enviable position of being able to transform the future of our ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, and we will do so by moving forward with intentional strategies that maximize our resources.

The changing landscape in Alberta, Canada and beyond suggests we need to ensure that we are envisioning our future and at the same time re-examining our present business practices.

In 2012, we will revisit and build upon our present strategic plan. In doing so, we will ensure that this plan is consistent with our academic and research strategies as well as emergent concepts such as further establishing the U of L as a true destination university, empowering our students to foster community engagement and citizenship and building a campus wide framework for recruiting and supporting Blackfoot and First Nations Métis and Inuit students. All of these strategies will be built on the solid foundation formed by our commitment to provide academic programming of the highest quality.

After lengthy consideration, I have created a President's Task Force on Budget Process. This task force will review our current budget process and make recommendations to the president's executive team that will support both short- and long-term planning, promote sound decision-making in support of institutional priorities, and ensure that a sustainable operating budget is continuously maintained. The task force will seek input from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ community.

At 45 years old, the U of L is relatively young when compared to many other universities.

The U of L has made great strides in the past 45 years, and in many ways our values still reflect the bold and independent ideals of our founders. As we look ahead, we will continue to grow our reputation provincially, nationally and globally because of the commitment our faculty and staff have to working together and supporting each other and our students.

The future is ours to define and the choices are ours to make.

This story first appeared in the January edition of the Legend. For a look at the Legend in a flipbook format, follow this link.

UNews - Task Force on Budget Process

An opportunity to contribute to the ��Ѹ�����Դ���߿�Ƭ vision

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