October 2, 2007
This is the first of what is expected to be a monthly e-mail to Iowa State
University leaders and administrators that will highlight the status of the
implementation of the Resource Management Model.
Multi-year planning and metrics
- Held the first of two retreats for the Provost Academic Council on Sept. 5.
The first focused on Iowa State University values and how these may be affected
by the Resource Management Model. The next one is planned for Oct. 10 and
will include additional university leaders and invited administrators from other
institutions.
- Modified accounting processes to support the management of Advance
Commitments. These will be finalized and made available on-line.
Data Warehouse
- Three vendors conducted on-campus presentations for their solutions for
a data warehouse reporting tool software for a data warehouse. Each has
responded with answers to additional technical questions following the
presentations. A decision on the vendor should be made soon. The goal is to
purchase the product and install it by December 31, 2007. The process of
loading Iowa State's data will begin in Spring 2008.
- Data Warehouse User Group reviewed a dataset on university building
space data for several fiscal years. This dataset was provided as an Excel
pivot table following testing of the AccessPlus reporting tool. Additional
datasets (employee FTE, budgeted expense data, undergraduate student credit hours,
student enrollment, tuition assessment and graduate student credit hours) are
planned to become available by Oct. 5.
Budget development processes
- All advisory committees have met and most have finalized charters and
operating principles. These will be added to the Web site.
- The timeline for the annual budget development process continues to be
reviewed.
- The process to restate the FY08 operating budget continues. This
includes the datasets. The target for the restatement is Oct. 15. One-to-one
meetings are being planned with deans and vice presidents to explain the
restatement and respond to questions.
- The kickoff for the development process for FY09 operating budget is
scheduled for Oct. 10, 2007.
Operating cycle processes
- More than two dozen recommendations have been posted to the campus
for review. A majority of them have been
approved by Executive Vice President Betsy Hoffman.
- Work groups and ad hoc committees are discussing more than 145
issues that are likely to be resolved through a formal recommendation. The
deadline for these to be recommended and approved is Dec. 31, 2007.
Information systems development
- The Controller's Department is prioritizing proposed programming
changes for the financial management system online (WebFM).
- Proposed changes will permit more expense categories to be budgeted
and monitored during the operating cycle. The changes will be completed by
March 31, 2008.
- A screen in WebFM is under development to show budget to actual
comparisons.
Education, training and education
- BearingPoint Consultant David Maddox conducted focus groups and
interviews for a Stakeholder Analysis and Risk Assessment. His
report is available online.
- The first "brown bag" session was held in September. Monthly sessions
have been scheduled through Fall and Spring terms. The next is scheduled for
Oct. 16.
- Events/response to university needs:
- Provost Hoffman speaker at P&S Council Open Forum, Sept. 6;
Ellen Rasmussen is scheduled for Oct. 4.
- President Geoffroy highlighted budget process in his
convocation remarks, Sept. 10.
- Provost Hoffman's presentation to the President's Council, Sept. 14 is
online.
More detailed reports on the status of the implementation are available on
the RMM Implementation Web site. Below are direct links to these reports:
