Campus Finance Committee
The Campus Finance Committee (CFC) was created in May 2021 to be advisory to the provost and chancellor and to replace the former Budget Advisory Committee. The standing committee will meet on at least a monthly basis to review, discuss, and advise on the campus core financial plan, including annual resource allocation, distribution of one-time funds (e.g., HEERF), and capital investments.
Charge
The purpose of the CFC is to engage leaders of schools, colleges, and major campus units in overall resource allocation strategy development and implementation.
Past Meetings and Minutes
Committee Membership
- Elizabeth Watkins, Provost (Chair)
- Stephanie Flores, Interim AVC FP&A
- Mariam Lam, VCDEI
- Sandra Kim, Interim VCPBA
- Rodolfo Torres, VCRED
- Brian Haynes, VCSA
- Kim McDade, Interim VCUA
- Deborah Deas, VC for Health Sciences & Dean of School of Medicine
- Denise Woods, VC for Health, Well-being & Safety
- Chris Lynch, Dean of BCOE
- Daryle Williams, Dean of CHASS
- Peter Atkinson, Interim Dean of CNAS
- Joi Spencer, Dean of SOE
- Yunzeng Wang, Dean of School of Business
- Mark Long, Dean of SPP
- Kevin Vaughn, Dean of UNEX
- Lidia Kos, Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies
- Louie Rodriguez, Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education
- Ken Baerenklau, Associate Provost and Chief of Staff
- Mihoko Hosoi, University Librarian
- Ken Barish, Chair of Academic Senate
- David Oglesby, PB&A Chair of Academic Senate
- Paige Mejia, President of Staff Assembly
- Leila Haida, ASUCR President
Joint Administrative–Senate Subcommittee
Dear Deans of Undergraduate Colleges/Schools and Faculty Members of the Academic Senate Planning & Budget Committee:
I write to invite you to participate in a joint Administrative-Senate subcommittee of the Campus Finance Committee to study and make recommendations on faculty ratios at UCR to incorporate into our campus budget operating model for academic planning purposes.
By faculty ratios, I mean both student: faculty ratios as well as ratios among types of faculty instructors (professor series, professor of teaching series, and lecturer series). I fully recognize that there is no one-size-fits-all set of ratios that can cover all disciplines. I also recognize that we should not try to specify an “ideal” ratio for any particular discipline – what is “best” depends on preferred pedagogies, available technologies, resource constraints, student demand, and other factors that change through time and are not entirely under our control. So, I ask that the subcommittee provide guidance on reasonable ranges that we should strive to maintain in different disciplines (perhaps at the school, college, or division level). These ranges will not be treated as absolute limits but instead will help us evaluate the feasibility and desirability of different planning scenarios: for example, does a scenario stay within the desired ranges, or not? If not, is there a path to bring the ratios back into range in a short period of time? Ideally, these ranges will be evidence-based and also informed by the professional expertise and judgment of the subcommittee members.
Teaching assistants also constitute a critical component of our instructional ecosystem at the university. Therefore, I ask the subcommittee also to consider and make recommendations on reasonable TA: student ratios in different disciplines.
Third, I invite this subcommittee to study and make recommendations on reasonable staff: student ratios within the schools and colleges. The majority of our staff are employed in non-academic units, so those leaders will be engaged during the budget review process in an evaluation of their staff numbers to help inform campus-level planning, as well.
Thanks to David Oglesby and Chris Lynch for co-chairing this group. Stephanie Flores, Executive Director, Financial Planning & Analysis, and Scott Heil, Assistant Vice Chancellor, Institutional Research, will be available as senior staff support. I look forward to receiving the subcommittee’s recommendations by June 2026.
Sincerely,
Liz