More than $22 million total funding awarded to four campuses to assist them in meeting strategic priorities
COLUMBIA, Mo. – In the latest milestone of the University of Missouri System’s strategic planning initiative, UM System President Tim Wolfe announced today the distribution of $22,172,750 in funding to the system’s four campuses, which the institutions will utilize for strategic priorities. The award in funding comes after the UM System and its campuses developed strategy statements that included measurable objectives to be achieved by 2020 or earlier, the scope of constituents they want to serve and the advantage they bring that differentiates them from other institutions.
The funding distribution demonstrates that the system is following through on the president’s strategic planning process, moving on from developing conceptual strategic plans to funding them to ensure timely and successful execution of those plans.
“I am pleased at the progress made by our chancellors and their teams in articulating the strategic priorities for each of their campuses, and reaching today’s major milestone of allocating dollars to assist them in furthering those priorities,” Wolfe said. “Our strategic planning process was designed to enhance the plans of our campuses in their goal of retaining or enhancing best-in-class status. Today’s announcement is further evidence that we are now executing those plans.”
A total of $22,172,750 in new funding is being distributed to the four campuses and system, including $13,610,000 to the University of Missouri-Columbia of which $10.67 million was appropriated specifically for a new medical school program and the College of Veterinary Medicine large animal program; $3,202,000 to Missouri University of Science and Technology; $2,165,000 to the University of Missouri-St. Louis; $2,612,750 to the University of Missouri-Kansas City; and $583,000 to the UM System.
In addition to the new state funding targeted for implementing the strategic plans, campus and system administration have budgeted an additional $48.5 million for investment in implementing the plan in the first year. The funding identified for this purpose includes $25 million from budget reallocation. While fully implementing the plans without the new state support would be difficult in the event it does not materialize – funding is contingent upon Governor Nixon’s veto of House Bill 253 being sustained followed by the release of currently restricted funds – the campuses are committed to moving ahead.
Campus and system administration submitted strategic planning funding requests earlier this summer. Each request was analyzed, including input on all proposals from the chancellors, and final decisions on funding were based on the criteria for strategic financial investment that was agreed upon by the president and chancellors in April.
Each campus request was evaluated on whether it would have a measurable and significant impact on achieving the strategy, or return on investment; evidence that the campus is sharing the cost of the initiative and has made the difficult choices about what it will no longer do in order to free resources for strategic investment; the impact on student learning and success, including how the proposed action plan is tied to and directly impacts measurable student learning and success outcomes; and the extent to which the action plan and request for funding allows the actions being tested and implemented on one campus to be replicated on additional campuses.
The University of Missouri System is committed to ensuring that the campuses receive the necessary resources to meet their strategic priorities in future years, and will continue to utilize the strategic plan to facilitate funding awards.
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Reviewed 2013-08-30