2008 Woodie Awards
Your Dreams Fulfilled: Everything You Have Ever Wanted to Know About The Budget!
Rollins Treasurer and Vice-President for Business and Finance,George Herbst, explains how the school can afford the many large construction projects
George Herbst
Issue date: 4/29/05 Section: Life & Times
In an effort to increase awareness and create a better understanding of the budget and budgeting process, the college is embarking on a campus-wide budget education process.
In this we hope to give readers a brief, broad overview of the entire budget and lay a foundation for further understanding and discussion. Subsequent articles will focus on different areas of the budget. After each article's publication we will hold open forums for all campus constituents to gain additional information and ask questions.
We begin by reviewing the overall budget of the College. The budget below represents the College's unrestricted operating budget, was approved by the Rollins College Board of Trustees for the 2005-2006 school year.
Rollins is financed by four principal revenue sources: student income, gifts, investment income, and auxiliary enterprises.
Rollins tuition comes from three major sources: Arts & Sciences, the Crummer Graduate School of Business and the Hamilton Holt School. The attachedtable shows the proportions of revenue and tuition by source.
Scholarship allowances represent tuition discounts given to students; the majority of unrestricted scholarships are awarded to Arts & Sciences students.
Payroll expenses dominate the College's expenditures. Salaries and Benefits comprise over 53 percent of total expenses. The College carefully evaluates the impact of additions to salaries and positions. Included in benefits costs are Social Security taxes, health insurance, retirement plan contributions, life insurance, etc.
Department costs include all of those costs that are available for departmental expenditure. This includes such items as travel and entertainment, materials and supplies, printing, contract services, etc.
Debt has been issued by the college for various building and renovation projects. Debt Service represents both principal payments and interest due on the College's long-term debt. Currently the college has approximately $68 million in outstanding debt, bearing interest at rates ranging between 2.0 percent and 6.0 percent.
Capital Expenditures represent our budget for current capital repairs and maintenance, not including new construction. Major construction projects are normally funded only by gifts and grants from College donors. The Contingency is the amount budgeted to protect against unanticipated variances in the budget.
There are a lot of pieces that make up the budget. The planned articles and open forums are only part of our effort to enhance and further facilitate understanding of the budgeting process. We welcome your suggestions, comments and questions. Your continuous input will provide us with an understanding of issues of relevance to the campus community at large and will alert us to areas of misunderstanding, allowing us to adjust our program. Please address any correspondence to wshort@rollins.edu or mail to box 2715, ATTN "Budgeting Educational Forums."
In this we hope to give readers a brief, broad overview of the entire budget and lay a foundation for further understanding and discussion. Subsequent articles will focus on different areas of the budget. After each article's publication we will hold open forums for all campus constituents to gain additional information and ask questions.
We begin by reviewing the overall budget of the College. The budget below represents the College's unrestricted operating budget, was approved by the Rollins College Board of Trustees for the 2005-2006 school year.
Rollins is financed by four principal revenue sources: student income, gifts, investment income, and auxiliary enterprises.
Rollins tuition comes from three major sources: Arts & Sciences, the Crummer Graduate School of Business and the Hamilton Holt School. The attachedtable shows the proportions of revenue and tuition by source.
Scholarship allowances represent tuition discounts given to students; the majority of unrestricted scholarships are awarded to Arts & Sciences students.
Payroll expenses dominate the College's expenditures. Salaries and Benefits comprise over 53 percent of total expenses. The College carefully evaluates the impact of additions to salaries and positions. Included in benefits costs are Social Security taxes, health insurance, retirement plan contributions, life insurance, etc.
Department costs include all of those costs that are available for departmental expenditure. This includes such items as travel and entertainment, materials and supplies, printing, contract services, etc.
Debt has been issued by the college for various building and renovation projects. Debt Service represents both principal payments and interest due on the College's long-term debt. Currently the college has approximately $68 million in outstanding debt, bearing interest at rates ranging between 2.0 percent and 6.0 percent.
Capital Expenditures represent our budget for current capital repairs and maintenance, not including new construction. Major construction projects are normally funded only by gifts and grants from College donors. The Contingency is the amount budgeted to protect against unanticipated variances in the budget.
There are a lot of pieces that make up the budget. The planned articles and open forums are only part of our effort to enhance and further facilitate understanding of the budgeting process. We welcome your suggestions, comments and questions. Your continuous input will provide us with an understanding of issues of relevance to the campus community at large and will alert us to areas of misunderstanding, allowing us to adjust our program. Please address any correspondence to wshort@rollins.edu or mail to box 2715, ATTN "Budgeting Educational Forums."