The IU Bloomington budget redesign initiative is on track to have a conceptual model available for review later this semester. This work focuses on building a methodology based on IU Bloomington’s mission, values and strategic plan, prioritizing fairness and collaboration among units.

The effort is led by a working group co-chaired by Ash Soni, dean of the Kelley School of Business, and Aimee Heeter, vice provost for finance and administration. The working group also includes other deans, faculty and staff.

What is it?

The IU Bloomington budget redesign initiative is the second, campus-specific phase of a broader university-wide project that includes a new way to distribute resources and account for shared services across all campuses.

The campus-specific model will be the tool to allocate campus-level revenue and expenses across the units by building upon some of the methodology used in the university-wide project. It will not create new revenue nor specifically address unit-level financial issues.

Why is IU Bloomington doing this?

The goal of the campus-specific work is to build a budget model that allocates resources to units through a consistent, equitable, straightforward methodology. The model will prioritize investments in teaching, research and creative excellence while balancing strategic priorities and needs for the common good.

“The new model re-envisions long-term planning and resource utilization to prioritize key goals of the IU Bloomington 2030 strategic plan while continuing to strengthen the individual academic units’ strategic plans and research missions,” Heeter said. “The redesign committee’s goal is to create a hybrid, data-driven model with transparency, predictability, accountability and a commitment to fiscal resiliency.”

What does this mean?

Budget redesign steering committee members have made several recommendations, including a three-pronged funding methodology:

• Incentive/Entrepreneurial: Creates unit-level financial accountability and fosters an entrepreneurial spirit to drive innovation in teaching, research and service.
• General Supplemental Funding: Creates standardization and consistency across units, in alignment with institutional goals.
• Strategic/Investment: Provides targeted funding to foster interdisciplinary activity, strategic campus investment and key academic investment by campus leadership.

Is IU Bloomington the only campus doing this work?

No, all IU campuses and the IU School of Medicine are undergoing a similar budget redesign process at the same time. Follow their progress on the budget redesign overview page.

What are the next steps?

The IU Bloomington campus’s detailed timeline includes:

• Early spring 2025: A conceptual model will be shared with academic and administrative leadership, faculty and staff councils and the campus community. Refinements to the model will be made based on campus feedback and further analyses.
• Late spring 2025: A prototype model will be developed for piloting in the 2025-26 academic year. This pilot model will run parallel to the existing budget model, helping to further refine the model before full-scale implementation the following year.
• Summer 2025 to spring 2026: Ongoing engagement with campus constituencies and key stakeholders will provide a continuous feedback loop to enhance the model. Regular review and analyses of the differential impact of the existing model and the prototype model will provide valuable insights into refining the prototype. Communication plans and training resources will be developed in advance of the fiscal year 2027 rollout.
• Summer 2026 and beyond: Begin implementation of the budget model, including a phase-in period for certain components, as needed. The new model is expected to take two or more years for full implementation.

Please note: The IU Bloomington campus will not implement this new methodology until fiscal year 2027, which will allow time to work out any concerns or issues.

The Office of the Provost and the re-design steering committee are collaborating on a plan to communicate additional details to the campus community, which includes listening sessions in spring 2025. The goal is to provide open dialogue and feedback throughout all phases.

Need more info?

Visit the overall budget redesign initiative’s Frequently Asked Questions page or the IU Bloomington budget redesign page.