The 2012-13 budget will reflect the University’s “very strong financial position” in the allocation of funds  to academic, administrative and auxiliary units, according to University officials, as both revenues and expenses are projected to rise from previous years.

Vice Provost for Budget and Auxiliaries Management Tim Warner MBA ’77 formally presented the budget plan at the May 31 meeting of the Faculty Senate. The budget will be submitted to the Board of Trustees for approval in June.

“We’re in a strong financial position — not quite where we were prior to the recession, but gaining back,” Warner wrote in an email to The Daily.

In composing the budget, Warner emphasized continuity in spending priorities from previous years, with sustained focuses on strengthening budgetary support for undergraduate financial aid and boosting the University’s competitive faculty salary position.

Warner also acknowledged the impact of a struggling economic recovery and potential government cuts in the budget plan. Federal direct research funding — of which the University (excluding the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory) currently anticipates $478 million in 2012-13 — constitutes over 10 percent of projected University revenues.

“These are both issues we are keeping a sharp eye on,” Warner wrote. “They are also why we are budgeting a surplus next year in General Funds so that we have some cushion in the event of shortfalls in investment income and research funding.”

The University will also retain many of the budget cuts made at the height of the economic recession. While funding for programs such as Overseas Seminars and Sophomore College has been restored, Warner told the Faculty Senate on May 31 that the program of cuts is “really starting to pay off.”

Consolidated expenses for the 2012-13 fiscal year total $4,096.3 million and are divided among expenses incurred by the University’s academic units — including its seven schools — and those incurred by administrative and auxiliary units.

Consolidated revenues for the 2012-13 fiscal year will total $4,443.4 million.

 

Academic units

The University’s academic units will incur a projected $3,367.8 million in consolidated expenses next year, though the amounts disbursed to individual academic units vary greatly.

The School of Medicine will receive 43 percent of all academic unit expenses next year, totaling $1,459.6 million. The school expects an overall surplus of $21.2 million next year, compared to this year’s $18.9 million surplus.

The school’s budget plan notes, however, the potential revenue shortfalls prompted by economic stagnation and health care reform, emphasizing the “continuing need to plan creatively” in order to sustain a strong fiscal position.

The SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory is projected to obtain 11 percent of consolidated expenses for 2012-13. SLAC, which obtains 97 percent of its funding from the Department of Energy, anticipates an expansion in expenses from $362 million this year to $384 million next year.

The School of Humanities and Sciences (H&S) is slated to receive 12 percent of academic unit expenditures. H&S, which currently has the largest faculty in the school’s history and which has mounted an aggressive faculty retention campaign, anticipates an operating surplus of $16.7 million next year. After transfers to plant and endowment payout capitalization, however, the school will run a deficit of $7 million.

The School of Engineering will occupy 10 percent of consolidated expenditures, with a projected $4.7 million overall surplus next year. Sponsored research will constitute 41 percent of the School’s revenues, down from 44 percent last year as federal research funding contracts.

The Dean of Research will receive 6 percent of consolidated expenses for 2012-13. The Office of the Vice Provost and Dean of Research anticipates a deficit of $1.1 million, stemming from revenues of $190.0 million, expenses totaling $195.9 million and net transfers of $4.9 million.

The Graduate School of Business (GSB) is projected to produce 6 percent of expenses while generating an overall surplus of $3.8 million. The GSB will continue to rely extensively on endowment payouts as a revenue source, with such transfers projected to constitute 34 percent of the GSB’s total revenue of $190.2 million, alongside private gifts, which will provide a further 12 percent.

Stanford Libraries will be allotted 3 percent of consolidated academic expenditures. The unit will run a deficit of $2.6 million in 2012-13, as the unit hires more specialist staff and plans and implements capital projects such as the relocation of collections currently housed in Meyer Library to the former GSB South Building.

The Law School, the School of Earth Sciences and the School of Education will each receive 2 percent of total consolidated expenses. Remaining expenses, which total 3 percent, will be divided between the Hoover Institution, the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and the Vice Provost for Graduate Education.

 

Administrative and auxiliary units

Consolidated expenses for University administrative and auxiliary units will total $1,143.0 million for the 2012-13 fiscal year, with the largest segment belonging to Land, Buildings and Real Estate (LBRE).

LBRE will constitute 20 percent of total administrative and auxiliary expenses next year. While expenses for 2012-13 will rise by 7.5 percent to reach $234.2 million, the unit will generate a “small surplus” of $2.4 million next year, according to the budget plan.

Business Affairs and Information Technology will consume a smaller portion of overall expenses next year relative to this one, with its share falling from 18 to 16 percent of total expenditures. The unit, which has projected revenues of $190.4 million and expenses of $191.6 million, will run a small deficit next year.

Residential and Dining Enterprises (R&DE) will make up 15 percent of consolidated expenses for administrative and auxiliary units and will generate a small deficit of $1.7 million for the upcoming fiscal year. Minimal expense growth and a 2.7 percent growth in revenues largely attributable to planned room and board increases will result in a smaller deficit relative to this year.

The Office of Undergraduate Admission (UGA) and the Financial Aid Office (FAO) will receive 14 percent of total administrative and auxiliary expenditures, with almost all of the unit’s $160.5 million in expenses constituted by an outlay of $153.1 million on undergraduate need-based financial aid.

The Department of Athletics, PE and Recreation (DAPER) will receive 9 percent of consolidated expenses, with a projected budget balanced by $97.4 million in expenses and revenues alike.

Among the remaining units, the Office of Development and Alumni will receive 9 percent of consolidated expenses; the Office of the President and Provost will receive 6 percent; the Office of Student Affairs will receive 5 percent; and the remaining 6 percent will be divided between the Stanford Management Company, the Office of the General Counsel, the Department of Public Safety and the Office of Public Affairs.

 

Capital Budget

In addition to academic and auxiliary and administrative expenses, Stanford will spend a further $529.5 million in 2012-13 through the University’s Capital Budget. The 2012/13-2014/15 Capital Plan, which totals $2.1 billion and is 14 percent larger than last year’s plan, will advance major projects such as the construction of the Stanford Energy Systems Innovations (SESI) project and the repurposing of the vacated, old Graduate School of Business Complex.