New Office to Co-ordinate Campus-wide Integrated Planning
April 20, 2011 - Campus Bulletin
Integrated planning is set to become a permanent part of strategic decision-making at the University of Guelph.
A new Integrated Planning and Budget Office has been created to support a sustainable campus-wide integrated planning (IP) process. The office will work with colleges and divisions to co-ordinate planning and allocate resources.
John Miles, currently assistant vice-president (finance), will become assistant vice-president (integrated planning and budget) to run the new office, effective May 1. He will report to the provost and assist the new vice-president (finance and administration) during his or her transition period.
“The first integrated plan was a complex but successful initiative,” says Maureen Mancuso, provost and vice-president (academic). She led the first IP process beginning in 2004/2005 and ultimately including the multi-year plan to eliminate U of G’s structural deficit by 2012.
For the next IP phase including all units across campus, the University needs more support, Mancuso says.
“The current IP was achieved with existing resources,” she says, including major support from the Budget Office, Resource Analysis and Planning, and the Office of Registrarial Services. “Further taxing these units to expand the implementation is not feasible.”
Among the responsibilities of the new Integrated Planning and Budget Office:
• develop and maintain University-wide multi-year operating budgets and capital budget plans;
• create IP guidelines and policies;
• help colleges/divisions/units with planning, resource allocation and reporting;
• establish an accountability framework for resource allocation decisions; and
• work with senior managers, college/division heads, and key administrative and academic support units on the integrated planning report.
Mancuso stresses that the new office will neither set University priorities nor assume responsibilities of major units in setting priorities and objectives.
“The most important responsibilities and decisions will remain with colleges/divisions. The objective is to complement this process in the context of integrated planning.”
The new office will incorporate new resources and a reorganization of existing units, including those involving budget, space inventory, planning and allocation.
“It is important that the evolution of integrated planning continue to be a University-wide effort,” says Miles. “The establishment of this new office is the next step in that evolution.”
