As members of the Boise State community return to campus, we want to share an important update on the Budget Modernization Initiative. This academic year marks the UBM shadow year — a pivotal time to test the model, refine our approach, and prepare for full implementation.
With the change in executive leadership, Interim Provost Zeynep Hansen and Interim CFO Stacy Pearson will now serve as executive sponsors of the Initiative, and Professor Lisa Growette Bostaph will serve as a co-facilitator with Associate Vice President Chris Johnson. Professor Growette Bostaph has been involved with the Initiative since its inception, and served as a Provost Fellow during the 2024-25 academic year focused on budget modernization. She will continue in that Provost Fellow role for the 2025-26 academic year.
Work on the Budget Modernization Initiative continued over the summer months to prepare for the shadow year, including finalizing the UBM prototype and strategically mapping out the tasks that need to be completed. As a result, seven dedicated working groups are being launched, each responsible for recommendations concerning operationalization, policy development, and governance of the UBM for implementation in FY27. The membership of these working groups consists of members of the Planning Advisory Committee (PAC) and individuals from across campus with relevant expertise. The individual members are listed on the Budget Modernization website. These working groups are:
- Governance
- Academic Business Managers
- Service Level Agreements (FOM & OIT)
- Strategic Initiatives
- Operationalization
- Data
- Building Maintenance Costs
Due to the time sensitive nature of their deliverables, some of the new groups began meeting in July. The Operationalization Group started scoping out the data and reporting efforts that need to be addressed during the shadow year and created a comprehensive map of the data powering the model, including its definitions, sources, related calendars and timelines. In addition, the Building Maintenance Costs Working Group began reviewing data from the UBM prototype to determine if a more appropriate methodology can be used to allocate deferred maintenance costs. Finally, the first dashboard supporting the UBM, the Appropriated Budget Dashboard, was launched August 4. It is available on the Boise State Reporting website and is viewable for those with access to financial data.
This fall, our primary goals are to continue articulating the governance required for the success of the budget model and the university, generating documentation, resources and tools that will assist colleges and divisions in their budgeting efforts, and developing additional reports in response to identified needs, particularly those expressed by our Academic Business Managers Working Group. The first milestone will be to populate the model with FY25 data (financial and academic), which will be available after September.
We are impressed with the progress our campus has made to get the Budget Modernization Initiative to this point and we remain on track for, and committed to, full implementation in FY27. The shadow year of FY26 should provide an appropriate level of confidence for us to move into full implementation on target. The UBM will enable and support colleges and divisions to make decisions that fit their needs.
We will continue to engage with members of the university community as the shadow year unfolds. For an updated Frequently Asked Questions section and other current Initiative information, please visit boisestate.edu/budgetmodernization and email questions or comments to budgetmodernization@boisestate.edu.
Sincerely,
Dr. Zeynep Hansen, Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Stacy Pearson, Interim Chief Financial Officer
Chris Johnson, Associate Vice President for Budget and Planning
Dr. Lisa Growette Bostaph, Professor and Provost Fellow for University Budget Modernization