3. Background St. Petersburg College was founded in 1927 as St. Petersburg Junior College The first group of students (102 strong) met in an unused part of St. Petersburg High School From such humble beginnings, SPC now serves over 63,000 students a year
4. Background Those 60,000+ students attend classes on ten different learning sites throughout Pinellas county Changed its name from SPJC to SPC in 2002 when the state of Florida authorized it to offer baccalaureate degrees for the first time The creation of the University Partnership Center has allowed SPC to bring undergraduate and graduate degrees from other colleges and universities to the residents of Pinellas county
5. The Interviews 1st interview with Doug Duncan (SPC Vice President for Administrative and Business Services) Dr. Duncan has been with SPC for over twenty years (was formerly in charge of Human Resources) Business-like demeanor and only seemed to warm up towards the end of our interview Despite the serious tone, he was very helpful and willing to share information about the SPC budgeting process
6. The Interviews 2nd interview with Brian Frank (SPC Associate Provost for the Allstate Center – one of SPC’s learning sites) Mr. Frank has been with SPC for approximately four years One of the new generation of administrators at SPC (for the fans of generational studies, Mr. Frank is a member of Generation X) More of a casual tone with the interview as he felt comfortable sharing the budgetary positives and negatives that he encounters
7. The Interviews Same procedure was utilized for both interviews (14 open-ended questions for each interviewee) The 1st interview took 60 minutes The 2nd interview was shorter (40 minutes)
8. Findings Is a specific approach used to develop the budget? Doug Duncan: Due to budget cuts, SPC switched to a zero-based budgeting process this year (used an incremental approach in past years). Brian Frank: His budget requests have to be justified according to departmental goals.
9. Findings Describe the role of budget managers during the development process? Doug Duncan: It is his office’s responsibility to provide detailed workshops for all SPC administrative staff who are required to manage a budget. Brian Frank: As an administrator who attended that workshop, he is charged with creating a “bare-bones” budget for his department.
10. Findings What about the role/involvement of stakeholders in the budget process? Doug Duncan: The aforementioned workshops empower the Deans and program coordinators with the ability to incorporate their stakeholder’s concerns into the budget process. Brian Frank: The main stakeholders he is concerned about are his students and the agencies he serves. Keeping the various public safety agencies happy is his biggest challenge on a limited budget.
11. Findings Is there a correlation between development and strategic planning? Doug Duncan: Yes, all managers have to link their budgetary requests to their objectives through our online budget tracking system. Brian Frank: He agreed with Doug’s statement, but due to the fact that his clientele are all involved with the public safety realm, they are seriously impacted by world events (the downturn in the economy affected Brian’s course offerings).
12. Findings Is there a contingency fund? Doug Duncan: Yes, there is a $2.9 million contingency fund for one-time adjustments (a cushion for the entire institution). Brian Frank: No cushion in his budget, but he does receive funds from the student technology & lab fees that can be used at his discretion (as long as it is for the benefit of the students he serves).
13. Findings What are the checks and balances used to monitor expenditures? Doug Duncan: SPC managers are required to send monthly reports to Doug’s office and on a larger scale, his office creates quarterly reports for the school’s Board of Trustees. Brian Frank: Due to the set-up of the budget system, every part of his budget must be approved beforehand and on top of that, we must complete monthly reports.
14. Reflection Through comparing the interviews to our readings, these items jumped out at me: How much the political and economic environment affect the budgetary considerations of a public community college The contrast between the perspective of top-tier administrator and a middle-tier manager as it pertains to the budget development process and what actually happens
15. Reflection The use of zero-based budgeting was a wise move by SPC as it enabled our school to trim all of the excess spending in each department. Through the combination of zero-based budgeting and an online budget request system that ties each request to department goals, SPC has been able to stay ahead of Florida’s budget cuts. SPC employee bonus This project’s effect on me
