Frequently Asked Questions
Questions? Contact the Budget Office at bdgtoffice@udel.edu.
- When will RBB be officially implemented?
- What do I do if I have questions about RBB in general?
- How and when will revenues and expenses be received by my unit?
- Will the Basic Accounting I and Basic Accounting II training programs be offered again?
- Will there be other training available?
- How will I know what type of training, if any I need?
- Will the University’s budget contain an individual budget for each “regular” employee after conversion to RBB?
- Will the Budget Turnaround process be the same as in past years?
- Is the age of the infrastructure/buildings a factor in the facilities, utilities and capital maintenance algorithms?
- If RBB will encourage incentive-generating behavior, will the result be an aggressive, unhealthy environment at the University?
- With the goal of generating more revenue, will there be opportunities to increase enrollment?
- Is there an expectation of how the Colleges will implement a budget process within each college?
- Will unspent basic operating funds be “swept” at the end of the fiscal year?
- When will RBB be officially implemented?
RBB will begin officially for FY 2010 which begins July 1, 2009.
Parallel processing will occur during FY 2009 so that users have an opportunity to become familiar with any changes in reports, etc.
What do I do if I have questions about RBB in general?
Visit the RBB Website which will be maintained and updated by the Budget Office at http://www.udel.edu/rbb.
Emails may be sent to the Budget Office at bdgtoffice@udel.edu.
Contact your budget analyst. Find out your Budget Office contact by visiting the Budget Office List of Contacts by Department at: http://www.udel.edu/Budget/Department%20Budget%20Office%20Contacts.htm
How and when will revenues and expenses be received by my unit?
All information with respect to when revenues and expenses will be recorded at the College level can be found in the RBB Timing Document @ https://docs.nss.udel.edu/rbb-facstaff/resources.
Will the Basic Accounting I and Basic Accounting II training programs be offered again?
At this time, future Accounting I and II live trainings are not scheduled. The training for both Basic Accounting I and II is/will available via a podcast and PowerPoint presentation on Training and Resources links available from the main RBB site @ http://www.udel.edu/rbb/presentations.html
Will there be other training available?
Additional training will be offered during the implementation and start-up phases. The training will be offered to target audiences based on their user classification. An explanation of the user classifications is available https://docs.nss.udel.edu/rbb-facstaff/training.
How will I know what type of training, if any I need?
Information regarding the roles of UDFinancials users is included in the document that describes user classifications, available under the Training link, Definition of User Groups, https://docs.nss.udel.edu/rbb-facstaff/training. In addition, the training document identifies the type of users that will be invited, be required or would benefit from each training session.
Will the University’s budget contain an individual budget for each “regular” employee after conversion to RBB?
Information for individual employees or positions will no longer be populated as part of the Budget as of July, 2009. Because units are responsible for managing their total expenses, they are the best source for projections and budgeting of their salary expenses. The Budget Office will be requesting such information in broad categories, such as professional staff, supplies, etc. The total of all currently-budgeted individuals or positions may not be an accurate reflection of what units plan to expend or budget in salaries in a given fiscal year.
Detailed information regarding individuals and positions is available in the Human Resources System and a report will be made available that provides detailed personnel information for monitoring against the category budgets. In July of 2009, reports will be made available that will detail such information.
Will the Budget Turnaround process be the same as in past years?
There will be some changes to portions of the Budget Turnaround process. Each segment is discussed below.
- Self-Supporting – There will be no change in the Self-Supporting budgeting process that occurs in November.
- Employee Budget Turnaround – Because the budget will not contain individual employee or position details, the Budget Office will no longer be involved in this process.
- Basic Budget Revenue Turnaround – This webform process will not change.
- Support Funds Budget Turnaround – It is anticipated that this process will be discontinued and will be replaced with requests to units for their entire budget (salaries and support) by broad categories. The Budget Office expects that this process will be similar to that used for the Self-Supporting Budget Turnaround. We anticipate that the Basic Budget Turnaround process will occur in the mid-to-late Spring.
Is the age of the infrastructure/buildings a factor in the facilities, utilities and capital maintenance algorithms?
No, the calculation of charges for facilities, utilities and capital maintenance is based on the total net assignable square footage as reported in the annual Space Survey to General Accounting. At this time, colleges are charged based on the square footage occupied within two categories. The two categories are general/classroom space and wet lab space.
If RBB will encourage incentive-generating behavior, will the result be an aggressive, unhealthy environment at the University?
No, RBB will encourage competitive environment for external purposes, but the priority of interdisciplinary cooperation will continue to dominate the academic environment.
With the goal of generating more revenue, will there be opportunities to increase enrollment?
Undergraduate enrollment will still be managed at the University level, and overall there will be no significant opportunities to grow enrollment. However, Graduate enrollment is encouraged to increase.
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Is there an expectation of how the Colleges will implement a budget process within each college?
No. Deans are given full authority to decide the best mechanism to use for budgeting within each specific College given the significant differences in programs and enrollment.
Will unspent basic operating funds be “swept” at the end of the fiscal year?
No. Any unspent basic operating funds for each College, and Academic and Non-Academic Support Units will now be transferred to a fund balance specific to each unit, i.e. surplus is retained at the College, and Academic and Non-Academic Support unit level.
