Budget Forum: FY21-23 Decision Packages

What is a Decision Package?

Decision Packages are requests for new funding sent to Olympia to be considered during the Legislature's biennial budget session.  It is a two year process to come up with final proposals sent to the Governor.

In odd-numbered years pre-proposals are part of the strategic planning process and are handled by Academic Affairs.  There are typically a larger number of these and they are rough ideas of possible decision packages. Pre-proposals go through the process of being reviewed by the University Planning and Resources Council (UPRC) to decide which ideas fit the strategic plan of the institution and may receive the necessary support from the Legislature. Approved pre-proposals are then sent back to the division(s) for further development over the next year.

In even-numbered years those developed proposals are sent to the Budget Office and go through a second review by UPRC, Vice Presidents, and Deans for consideration.  Those that still meet the strategic goals of the university and receive support on campus are sent to the Governor's office and then forwarded to the Legislature to be considered for funding in the next biennial state budget.

The campus community is asked to provide comments on both pre-proposals and proposals as part of the review process.  Comments are solicited on all submissions prior to being discussed by UPRC and are solicited again on the Vice Presidents'/Deans' final recommended proposals. The forum is typically opened in late winter and closed in spring depending on the budget cycle calendar for that year.  

Please contact Budget & Financial Planning with any questions at BFP@wwu.edu.

Biennium 2021-2023 Decision Package Proposals

Latest updates regarding the FY2021-2023 Decision Package Proposals

Full proposals

Comments are now open.

Read or post comments at the bottom of this page.

All comments will be approved by a moderator within Budget and Financial Planning and will be posted as quickly as possible. The moderator will not approve comments that contain any harmful, threatening, defamatory or hateful speech or that are offensive in nature. Comments that are submitted which are clearly outside of the stated topic will likewise not be approved by the moderator. If you have any questions as to why your comment was not posted, you may email Budget & Financial Planning at BFP@wwu.edu and we will respond as soon as possible. 

 

Comments

Nursing Graduate Program

lonnemw replied on
 
In the PROV Graduate School Decision Package draft, I'm wondering why there isn't any information about the new graduate programs that Western is proposing, or at least investigating. What's there seems fine in terms of supporting current programs (TAs, etc.) and providing some new infrastructure for the Grad School program, but it seems to me that the package would be more compelling by including specific programs that we are contemplating, such as nursing. Our program could use funding now to help pay for the time we will be dedicating in the next 1-2 years to develop our graduate programs.

Ethnic Studies Academic Initiative -- Addition

crookd replied on
 
Ethnic Studies should be included in *all* WWU programs -- not just Teacher Ed or a focused major -- including the sciences, arts, humanities and so on. We cannot say we are preparing our students for the world so long as they come to us with little-to-no understanding of race, and can go on to complete a bachelors/masters with us without ever confronting issues of race. I love this proposal -- and I want to see the metrics include more than headcounts / grad rates from people who major in it -- e.g., how many degrees does WWU offer compared to how many incorporate or require learning about race / ethnic studies; how many students graduate from WWU without ever taking a course focused on race, etc.

Graduate Program impact on undergrad enrollments

thutp replied on
 
The Graduate Program Decision Package doesn't mention a major impact of a declining Grad program: longer time to graduation rates for BA/BS degrees. Many programs, at least in CSE, depend on GTAs to teach laboratory sections. GTAs will be a limiting factor in offering enough sections of core courses resulting in less offerings of high demand undergraduate courses.