Intercollegiate Athletics: Past, Present, and Future
Budgeting in the 21st Century:A review of St. PetersburgColleges
Practices
A presentationby Don R. Keller IIICCL 824 Fall 2009
OverviewBackground
The Interviews
Findings
Reflection
BackgroundSt. Petersburg College was founded in 1927 as St.
Petersburg Junior College
The first group of students (102 strong) met in an unused part
of St. Petersburg High School
From such humble beginnings, SPC now serves over 63,000 students
a year
BackgroundThose 60,000+ students attend classes on ten different
learning sites throughout Pinellas county
Changed its name from SPJC to SPC in 2002 when the state of
Florida authorized it to offer baccalaureate degrees for the first
time
The creation of the University Partnership Center has allowed
SPC to bring undergraduate and graduate degrees from other colleges
and universities to the residents of Pinellas county
The Interviews1st interview with Doug Duncan (SPC Vice President
for Administrative and Business Services)
Dr. Duncan has been with SPC for over twenty years (was formerly
in charge of Human Resources)
Business-like demeanor and only seemed to warm up towards the
end of our interview
Despite the serious tone, he was very helpful and willing to
share information about the SPC budgeting process
The Interviews2nd interview with Brian Frank (SPC Associate
Provost for the Allstate Center one of SPCs learning sites)
Mr. Frank has been with SPC for approximately four years
One of the new generation of administrators at SPC (for the fans
of generational studies, Mr. Frank is a member of Generation X)
More of a casual tone with the interview as he felt comfortable
sharing the budgetary positives and negatives that he
encounters
The InterviewsSame procedure was utilized for both interviews
(14 open-ended questions for each interviewee)
The 1st interview took 60 minutes
The 2nd interview was shorter (40 minutes)
FindingsIs a specific approach used to develop the budget?
Doug Duncan: Due to budget cuts, SPC switched to a zero-based
budgeting process this year (used an incremental approach in past
years).
Brian Frank: His budget requests have to be justified according
to departmental goals.
FindingsDescribe the role of budget managers during the
development process?
Doug Duncan: It is his offices responsibility to provide
detailed workshops for all SPC administrative staff who are
required to manage a budget.
Brian Frank: As an administrator who attended that workshop, he
is charged with creating a bare-bones budget for his
department.
FindingsWhat about the role/involvement of stakeholders in the
budget process?
Doug Duncan: The aforementioned workshops empower the Deans and
program coordinators with the ability to incorporate their
stakeholders concerns into the budget process.
Brian Frank: The main stakeholders he is concerned about are his
students and the agencies he serves. Keeping the various public
safety agencies happy is his biggest challenge on a limited
budget.
FindingsIs there a correlation between development and strategic
planning?
Doug Duncan: Yes, all managers have to link their budgetary
requests to their objectives through our online budget tracking
system.
Brian Frank: He agreed with Dougs statement, but due to the fact
that his clientele are all involved with the public safety realm,
they are seriously impacted by world events (the downturn in the
economy affected Brians course offerings).
FindingsIs there a contingency fund?
Doug Duncan: Yes, there is a $2.9 million contingency fund for
one-time adjustments (a cushion for the entire institution).
Brian Frank: No cushion in his budget, but he does receive funds
from the student technology & lab fees that can be used at his
discretion (as long as it is for the benefit of the students he
serves).
FindingsWhat are the checks and balances used to monitor
expenditures?
Doug Duncan: SPC managers are required to send monthly reports
to Dougs office and on a larger scale, his office creates quarterly
reports for the schools Board of Trustees.
Brian Frank: Due to the set-up of the budget system, every part
of his budget must be approved beforehand and on top of that, we
must complete monthly reports.
ReflectionThrough comparing the interviews to our readings,
these items jumped out at me:
How much the political and economic environment affect the
budgetary considerations of a public community college
The contrast between the perspective of top-tier administrator
and a middle-tier manager as it pertains to the budget development
process and what actually happens
Reflection
The use of zero-based budgeting was a wise move by SPC as it
enabled our school to trim all of the excess spending in each
department.
Through the combination of zero-based budgeting and an online
budget request system that ties each request to department goals,
SPC has been able to stay ahead of Floridas budget cuts.
SPC employee bonus
This projects effect on me
