Budget Redesign Overview

UIC has operated under a Responsibility Center Management (RCM) budget model since fiscal year 2008. After a two-year hiatus from RCM in fiscal years 2021 and 2022, UIC is resumed RCM in fiscal year 2023 while taking steps to redesign the budget model to better serve the university today.

While the existing RCM budget model has perceived strengths of incentivizing growth and innovation, it may be lacking in strategic alignment with ongoing concerns about the sustainability of the university's financial model. In essence, how do we optimize resource allocation in light of revenue constraints, increasing costs, and varying demand on resourcing strategic priorities?

Over the next two to three fiscal years, UIC will assess key aspects and features of the budget model and use a phased-in approach to implement changes. The redesign work and underlying analyses are being accomplished through an interdisciplinary taskforce comprised of faculty, deans, fiscal officers and administrators under the leadership of Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Karen Colley and Associate Vice Chancellor for Budget and Financial Analysis, Michael Moss. Visiting Budget Model Redesign Project Director, Mary Ellen Borchers, has been appointed to facilitate the work of the taskforce.

The Taskforce is collaborating broadly with other areas of the university to develop recommendations, communication and implementation plans that address the following goals and aspirations of the budget redesign:

 

Model Optimization

  • Link the budget to strategic priorities and performance
  • Advance UIC’s mission, while maintaining institutional excellence and a focus on student success
  • Align incentives with strategic priorities while enhancing research, innovation, and clinical activities
  • Provide appropriate incentives for collaborations within and across colleges and disciplines

 

Financial Sustainability

  • Reflect a shared commitment to UIC’s financial health
  • Inform stakeholders about financial realities, budgetary limitations and trade-offs as costs continue to outpace revenue generation
  • Plan for financial impacts from the FY2026 enrollment cliff
  • Enhance transparency of decision-making and funding usage along with unit level financial accountability
  • Align decentralized decision-making with overall institutional goals
  • Emphasize administrative streamlining and evaluate shared services to minimize duplicative administrative efforts