On behalf of the Budget Steering Committee, I am pleased to present the following budget-related questions and answers. Responding to these questions has helped us think about the preparation of next year's budget.

During this past year, we followed a new budget process, which included the creation of the Budget Steering Committee to guide the on-campus budget process. As a result of this process, next year's budget seeks to allocate resources to our highest strategic priorities, such as 1) salaries/benefits to attract and retain the best faculty and staff and 2) need-blind admission and full-demonstrated need. We have also concentrated on budgetary objectives (on which the Board focuses) such as achieving better revenue balance.

We recognize that developing a strong budget process involves on-going dialogue. We have tried to encourage people on campus to participate in the budget process, and we have made a conscious effort to listen. We hope that dialogue along these lines will help us all recognize broader institutional needs and the constraints that necessarily arise in a budget that attempts to meet those needs. That said, no budget process is perfect and we look forward to improving on it in the future.

As you look through the questions/answers and learn more about the new process and next year's budget, please feel free to contact me if you wish to discuss any of this.

How is the budget set up? (Questions 1-6)
Why can't our endowment solve all our budget problems? (Questions 7-10)
Do new buildings create budget pressures? (Questions 11-12)
How do we set next year's tuition in our budget process? (Questions 13-17)
How do we set next year's salary pools in our budget process? (Questions 18-22)
What is the Budget Steering Committee? (Questions 23-26)
How do we make tough budgetary decisions? (Questions 27-31)

If you would rather download a copy of the entire document in MS-Word format, please click here.
If you would like to download a copy of the Grinnell College FY 2003 Budget as we report it in MS- Excel format, click here.