After a seven-year hiatus, the University Faculty Senate’s Budget and Planning Advisory Committee resumed its meetings in December 2012 to provide faculty input regarding the budget situation to the administration, said Committee Chair Louay Mohammad.

Faculty Senate President Kevin Cope said the committee is developing a program to educate the faculty.

“We’re trying to re-engage the committee in fiscal-related issues with the administration by including expertise, experience and input to the administration for their consideration,” Mohammad said.

He said the committee always existed and had membership, but was not involved in the budgeting process.

Whenever there are budget cuts, allocations or assessments, the purpose is to educate and disseminate the information to the faculty, Mohammad said.

“We hear about the cuts, but we don’t know how the various items all fit together,” he said.

Cope said there is a need for greater expertise among the faculty with regard to University budget and planning.

“We want to maintain a regular education process by which faculty routinely knows about the budget,” Cope said. “There may be some who want entry-level knowledge and others who want a sophisticated level of information.”

Mohammad said Robert Kuhn, University interim CFO and vice chancellor for Finance and Administrative Services, consulted with the faculty and shared what the University has done regarding the budget.

“We want to share that information with the campus and faculty community so we can be a positive role in the process of budgeting and helping the administration achieve what they want to achieve,” Mohammad said.

“We want to maintain a regular education process by which faculty routinely knows about the budget.”