Budget Outlook

A: Feedback is being collected through unit, college, and department meetings and also through an online survey. This feedback will be compiled by Institutional Research and organized into themes, which will be shared with the Budget Advisory Group, University Council, Administrative Council, and the university at large in December. Feedback will be used to inform balancing plans and strategies.

A: On the revenue side, enrollment increases over the past few years have had minimal impact on ISU’s net tuition revenue, as our internally funded scholarship expenses have been increasing commensurate with tuition revenues. This fall, we are starting to see true growth in net tuition revenue and expect this trend to continue. On the expense side, enrollment growth puts pressure on academic programs and student services in addition to operational functions. Enrollment-associated resource needs are being addressed through the Opportunity Aligned Resourcing (OAR) process.

A: No. As part of the Benchmarking budget optimization initiative, ISU analyzed administrator and other staffing levels against meaningful peers over a three-year period and found that administrator FTE and salary levels are on par with peer institutions. ISU also compares our administrative to instructional cost ratio, as combined from IPEDS data to both in-state peers and our benchmarking peer set. ISU’s ratio is consistently lower than the average of both peer groups.

A: No. Members of the Budget Advisory Group have analyzed longitudinal administrator staffing levels and pay over a ten-year period from FY2015 to FY2025. Over this period, ISU’s administrator FTE has increased by 2.8 or 3.5% as compared to a 5.3% increase in faculty, and average administrator and professional staff salaries have increased less than classified and contracted faculty salaries.

A: Furloughs do not help with long-term balancing efforts, but can be effective in responding to one-time holdbacks. ISU has addressed the FY2026 3% holdback through a combination of operating expense reductions and additional salary savings through deferred personnel actions. Furloughs may be considered if additional current-year holdbacks are implemented by the state.

A: Furloughs do not help with long-term balancing efforts, but can be effective in responding to one-time holdbacks. ISU has addressed the FY2026 3% holdback through a combination of operating expense reductions and additional salary savings through deferred personnel actions. Furloughs may be considered if additional current-year holdbacks are implemented by the state.

Other personnel decisions (e.g. RIF’s) will be made after careful planning and by considering the impact of such actions on the institution's ability to meet its mission and goals. 

A: Budget balancing strategies will be shared with the university community and stakeholders during the spring term.

A: Agencies have been advised that additional FY2026 reductions could occur if state revenues continue to fall below projections. The FY2027 budgets will be determined after the Legislature convenes in January, with any additional budget decisions being informed by the state’s updated revenue outlook.

A: ISU has spent down surplus reserves over the past decade at the direction of the State Board of Education. These reserves have been used to invest in strategic priorities and initiatives and to cover operating deficits in central funds as ISU worked through its multi-year budget optimization process. Reserves are now at an appropriate level and need to be maintained in order to maintain ISU’s bond rating, resource strategic investments, and provide contingency funds for continuity of operations.

A: The vast majority of ISU’s deferred maintenance and capital construction is funded through a combination of state, philanthropic, and bond funds. Recent investments in deferred maintenance with state funds have long-term budget impacts in reducing utility and maintenance costs.

Near-term capital construction priorities as outlined in ISU’s campus master plan are the construction of a new Life Sciences Building (funded through a combination of philanthropic and bond funds) and the construction of new student housing (funded through a public-private partnership).

A:  A shared service model is an approach used across higher education and other large organizations to organize work in ways that make the best use of people, resources, and expertise. Rather than each college, department, or division performing every function separately, areas with similar needs—such as finance, information technology, communications, advising, research support, facilities, or administrative operations—can share processes, systems, or personnel to deliver services more efficiently and consistently.

The intent of a shared service model is to:

• improve access to expertise and specialized support,
• ensure consistent standards and practices across the university,
• reduce duplication of effort and cost, and
• allow campus units to focus more directly on their academic, research, and service missions.

Shared service roles are the individuals who work within or across these coordinated teams. They collaborate closely with the units they support, ensuring that local priorities are met while also maintaining alignment with university-wide goals, systems, and policies.

As ISU advances its Bold Path Forward initiative, shared service approaches may look different in different areas of campus. The overarching goal is to strengthen collaboration, make work easier to navigate, and deliver high-quality, consistent services that help every part of the university succeed.