ROWAN UNIVERSITY POLICY 

Title: University Budget Process
Subject:  Budget
Policy No: Fin: 2015:03
Applies: University-Wide
Issuing Authority: Senior Vice President of Finance and CFO
Responsible Officers:  University Budget Director
Adopted: 01/30/2015
Last Revision: 

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10/

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22/

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2021
Last Reviewed: 

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10/

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22/

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2021

I.    PURPOSE

The purpose of this policy is to outline the preparation, approval, and implementation of operating and financial budgets at Rowan University.   

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1. Personnel
1. Full-Time and Part-Time Staff
   Units are required to fund all full-time and part-time staff positions from the approved budget allocation.
   1. These include:
      1. Newly authorized personnel
      2. Annual leave and/or final payments to employees such as lump sum vacation
      3. Any temporary leave replacements the unit chooses to make
      4. Authorized staff reorganizations
      5. Fringe benefit costs (self-supporting programs)
   2. Only permanent funds may be used to fund full-time positions. Contingency funds and one-time allocations cannot be used to fund permanent full-time positions. Salary savings may be used for temporary replacements of positions following approval by the appropriate department head, division head, and Budget Office. 
2. New Position Requests (Out of Budget Cycle Requests)
   All new position requests must follow Office of Human Resources procedures. Departments must include all appropriate documentation, including; job description, Request to Hire Form-Position Approval, justification, and funding plan. The Budget Office will ensure that the position has been approved and appropriate funding exists. All new, permanent positions are approved by the University President or their Designee. 
3. Salary Savings 
   1. If a position in a department is vacant, the budgeted salary for that position is said to "lapse". Upon approval by the appropriate division head,   funds in this account can be used to pay for temporary replacements. Any salary savings resulting from regular University state supported positions may not be used to create additional full-time positions. 
   2. Other uses for lapsed salaries, such as for non-personnel costs, may be approved on a limited basis. The use of all salary savings may be restricted in the event the University is required to cover expenses resulting from budget cuts or other institutional needs. Lapsed salaries apply only to regular University funded accounts in the unrestricted fund. Special Program accounts (revenue centers) do not lapse.
2. Budget Transfers
   1. Authorized department personnel who have been granted the appropriate security are permitted to process non-salary transfers on-line. On-line transfers are not permitted to or from salary accounts or in restricted fund accounts. 
   2. To move budgeted funds from or to salary accounts, a "Budget Transfer Request" form must be completed. Once completed, the form should be submitted to the Budget Office for approval and processing into the Banner System.
3. Department Chargebacks
   1. A chargeback is a method used by service units to charge other departments for particular services. Chargebacks that occur automatically, without the need for a departmental request include: telephone services, duplicating and xerox services, postage, and central stores.
   2. Service departments must notify user departments during the budget development process of any anticipated budget changes to a chargeback expense in the coming fiscal year. User departments must also anticipate changes in planned expenses based on historical usage or changes in future requirements. Activity related to the expenditure and the offset are processed by the Accounting Office during the fiscal year, following submission of documentation by the service department.
4. Carryforward Funds 
   1. Funds remaining in the regular University, CMSRU,
   Carryforward Funds 
   1. Funds remaining in the regular University, CMSRU, & RowanSOM unrestricted fund/orgs do not roll over into the following fiscal year.
   2. Special Program (revenue center) funds budgeted for one fiscal year should also be spent in that same fiscal year. For revenue center funds that are established for multiple years, the funds remaining at year end are available to be carried forward into the next year with an approved budget request identifying those amounts. Fund balances in these accounts are subject to review by the University administration.
   3. If it is determined by the Budget Office that a revenue center fund account has not been active for one year, or if the period for the project has expired, the account will could be reviewed and subject to termination, and any remaining funds will be forfeited.
5. Fiscal Responsibility
   1. It is the responsibility of each unit director of an approved budget, for a specific fund/org, to insure that sufficient funds/revenues are available to cover all unit costs thru year end.
   2. For revenue center funds, the Budget Office prepares periodic (quarterly) year-to-date reports and distributes them to the appropriate division head. Any accounts not showing revenues sufficient to support costs must be reviewed by the unit director and division head and a corrective business plan approved by the division head must be submitted to the Budget Office.
6. Establishing Accounts
   1. If it is determined that changes to the attributes of an existing account need to be made, or a new cost center needs to be established because a department is expanding or adding a new program, an "Account Request" form must be completed by the department.
   2. The department must include the proposed title, fiscal agent, department, division, source of funds, a brief description of the program and the period the program will be active. A budget should be attached identifying the source of revenue and the fee schedule used to determine the projected revenue. 

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