WWU Operating Budget

The 2023-2024 Annual State Operating Budget Recommendation was approved by the Board of Trustees at their June 9, 2023 meeting. Additional operating budget details are published in Fall quarter on our Operating Budget Book resource page.

President Randhawa sent a budget message to the university community in March 2023, outlining the fiscal challenge Western currently faces. The university is responding to these challenges with a set of short-term strategies to reduce expenditures that are effective immediately. Information about these strategies and answers to common questions are available on our Short-Term Savings Strategies webpage.

Western Washington University moved to an annual, strategic budget development process in 2021 to create a simpler way for budget proposals to be submitted by departments, encourage broad engagement in the university's budget development, and to align budgeting with Western's strategic plan. Previously, budget proposals needed to specify whether the application was for state or internal funding and varied during the first and second years of each biennium.

The Strategic Budgeting Process uses a single, annual call for proposals focusing on priority areas informed by the institution's strategic goals. After submittal, proposals may be considered for internal investment or reinvestment at the division or institutional level, combined or synthesized into larger decision package requests for state funding, or identified for future fund raising efforts. For more information, visit our Strategic Budgeting Process page to learn more about the steps in the process leading to the development of Western's annual operating budget and budget requests to the State or view the timeline for the current year's process.

This process itself will continue to evolve as we learn from each iteration, and the University's current priorities will continue to be a major part of our focus for the next biennium.

Call for Proposals & Evaluation Criteria

Fall 2022 Strategic Budgeting Forum

Materials for October 20 SMB Submission Deadline

• Budget Proposal Abstract Template
• Abstract Submission Form (links to online form in SharePoint that requires Office 365 login)

Materials for February 3 Deadline for Submission to Divisions

• Proposal Narrative Template
• Proposal Cost Estimate Template (updated Jan 27 to included the new rates for benefits)

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This first year of Western's Strategic Budgeting process was robust with 97 proposals across all focus areas, many with overlap between areas. Recommendations from the 2021-2022 process were considered in the development of the university's 2022-2023 Annual State Operating Budget with new investments identified through the budgeting process. The process also involved identification of areas where alternative funding or focused fundraising could be used for support. 

Additionally, proposal recommendations were incorporated into Western's approximately $20 million biennium request to the state. Decision Packages were developed from combining synergistic proposals into fewer, more extensive packages that align university and state priorities. In September 2022, Western's 2023-2025 Biennial Operating Budget Request was submitted to the state's Office of Fiscal Management for consideration by the state early next year. To learn more about the state's budget process, visit our State Budget page.

For more information about process outcomes, view the Spring 2022 Budget Forum presentation.