Budgets and Allocations

The university's budget office manages an annual planning cycle for the unrestricted operating budget.

This funds Emory's academic and service units, based on a fiscal year that runs Sep. 1 through Aug. 31.

Process

The budget process for Emory University

Beginning more than a year in advance, the budget office presents a schedule during the summer to the Ways and Means Committee, which is responsible for the university budget and chaired by the provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. Once approved, the schedule is shared with the deans, vice presidents, and directors responsible for departmental budgets. The budget office also gets projections of major income sources to prepare preliminary income and expense guidelines.

The following February, budget managers present requests to their respective executive vice presidents, who distill the information into executive summaries for the Ways and Means Committee. The academic deans also provide input to the provost regarding needs and priorities. The Ways and Means Committee reviews the requests and drafts an unrestricted operating budget.

Once a balanced budget is developed, the provost and executive vice president for academic affairs completes the briefing for the university president. Next, the Ways and Means Committee presents its recommended budget to the Board of Trustees' Finance Committee, which approves it either as presented or in a revised form agreed to by both committees. Finally, the full Board of Trustees reviews and approves the budget at its May meeting.

The budget process for Emory Healthcare

A similar process is used to produce Emory Healthcare's operating budgets.

The Ways and Means Committee reviews the budgets annually in July. The budgets are then presented for approval to the Board of Trustees' Finance Committee, the Emory Healthcare Board of Directors, and the Woodruff Health Sciences Center Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees' Executive Committee reviews and approves the budget at its August meeting for the following fiscal year.