March 21-22, 2002

DATE: March 14, 2002

TO: Board of Regents

FROM: Richard A. Crofts, Commissioner

RE: 2004-2005 Budget Request

Enclosed is the revised draft of the 2004-2005 budget request for the Montana University System. We have made substantial revisions and additions to the document based upon the discussion at the February 25, 2002 Board of Regents' meeting and very substantial suggestions from all of our campuses. We have tried to incorporate as many of those suggestions as possible, balanced by the need to keep the document as brief as possible. The document has grown since the previous version, but the investments are still covered in a bit over four pages.

We will have copies of the suggestions from the campuses available for you at the meeting in Havre. If you would like copies of those materials in advance of the meeting, please contact Sherry.

The attached document is clearly a "Montana University System" budget request. Regent Semmens and I have discussed the need to have full presentations from the universities and all of the campuses on how these initiatives apply to them and what returns on investments could be expected.

Next week the Board needs to focus on several important issues. I hope that suggested edits of the document can be communicated to me before or after the meeting.

  • Should all four initiatives be included?
  • What levels of funding should be set for each approved initiative?
  • Should the lists of returns on investment and accountability be shortened?
  • Are there initiatives, returns on investment, and accountability measures that should be added?
  • Should the initiatives be prioritized?

We will provide a revised version of this document for final review and approval by the Board of Regents in May.

Finally, after next week's review of this document, we will circulate it widely to constituents and stakeholder groups for their input and suggestions.