Budget serves value system
In an interview with newly elected student body president, Krystal Weaver, Dr. Jacobs answered the following question: “What’s more important— the quality of education or the bottom line?” Dr. Jacobs answered this question by explaining that our value system is what is most important, and then he punctuated his answer by saying, “The budget serves the value system.” He also added, “We have to make ends meet.”
In the twelve years I have functioned as CFO of a university, I have heard various versions of this same question that attempts to pit educational quality and mission attainment against budgeting and financial decision-making. In some ways, however, it is like asking the question, “What’s more important—driving a nice car or being able to afford it?” A better question would go something like this: Given the things we value at this university and given the current realities of our economy, what activities should we prioritize and how should we deploy our limited resources (human, financial, and capital) to achieve our desired outcomes?
As Dr. Jacobs said, the budget is simply a tool that serves our value system, and we have to make both ends meet. It is not one or the other (educational quality or the bottom line)—it must be both.
The earliest known use of the idiom, “to make ends meet,” is from The History of the Worthies of England (1661): “Worldly wealth he cared not for, desiring only to make both ends meet; and as for that little that lapped over, he gave it to pious uses.” The idea of making both ends meet is the idea that income must equal expenditures. One of my favorite quotes (attributed to Bill Earle) is the following: “If your OUTGO exceeds your INCOME, the UPKEEP will be your DOWNFALL.” Others believe the idiom, “to make ends meet,” is derived from dressmaking, where both ends of a cloth must meet to make a dress. When both ends of the cloth do not meet, the person wearing the dress is exposed and embarrassed, and the dress is of no value and thrown away. Thus, it is a necessity to make both ends meet.
So what do we value? At the University of Toledo, among other things, we value discovery and learning; we value outreach and engagement; we value diversity and teamwork; we value innovation and excellence; we value wellness and safety; and we value professionalism and respect. If these are our values, then we strive to develop a budget that actualizes these values. A preacher once said to me, “Show me your checkbook for a year, and I’ll tell you what you value most.” The same can be said of a university’s budget—show me a university’s budget, and I’ll tell you what that university values most.
So the budget is just a tool, but it is an important tool because it forces our dreams into the real world, where real people live—it forces us to prioritize our activities and the use of our limited resources—it forces us to make ends meet so that we have a little left over for “pious uses.” No margin—no mission.
While the budget process is still ongoing, I want to thank everyone who is working so hard to produce a 2009-10 budget that serves our value system and makes ends meet. To everyone involved, thank you.
Scott Scarborough
