Responsibility Center Management
Background
The work of the Responsibility Center Management (RCM) Council builds on the efforts of two earlier groups. During the 2007-2008 academic year, the Efficiencies Task Force began discussing ways of achieving Texas Tech University's long term goals while delivering a quality education at an affordable price. Last year President Bailey charged the Revenue Enhancement and Allocation (REA) Task Force with studying the budget process and recommending transparent methods to increase revenue generation and changes to the way that resources are allocated within the university. The REA Task Force recommended that Texas Tech University adopt a form of Responsibility Center Management. You can read the Executive Summary of the Task Force’s report here.
September 2009
Recent work of the Revenue Enhancement and Allocation (REA) Task Force has been reported to me. I have also had an opportunity to read through the Task Force Planning Report and the report’s recommendation to move forward with Responsibility Center Management (RCM). I fully support those recommendations and have appointed Dr. Jon Strauss and Dr. Ronald Mitchell as co-chairs of the committee charged with the RCM implementation.
–Guy Bailey
The Responsibility Center Management Council is working to implement a decentralized budgeting structure that will better enable Texas Tech to meet its mission and strategic goals.
The goals for the new budgetary model are to:
- Establish transparent reporting and equitable allocation policies campus wide.
- Provide performance incentives for academic and other units that are consistent with achieving excellence in Texas Tech University's mission and objectives.
- Assure academic units’ budgets are tightly aligned with the strategic goals of the institution.
- Create and implement a system under which revenues generated by each unit, along with costs associated with each unit, will be locally managed. Net revenue above expenses incurred will accumulate to the benefit of the unit generating such revenues.
- Protect the viability and quality of programs aligned with the mission of the University that do not generate sufficient revenues to be self-supporting.
- Implement improved data systems and business processes to facilitate both revenue and
budgeted expense management. - Support the university’s efforts at achieving national research university status, continuing excellence in academic programs, and attracting the best students possible.
Implementing an RCM budget model will involve people from across campus supported by a “town hall” approach to the dialogue. Please look for updates and plan to attend the various forums at which RCM will be discussed. And, to assist in the inclusion process, we invite you to also participate in the online town hall at this site. Just submit your questions or comments to rcm@ttu.edu, and we will regularly post responses to further inform the conversation. We have already provided answers to some anticipated questions. Welcome to the RCM Town Hall!