Miami adopts new budget model, targets deans’ performances

Miami University’s new budget model – RCM 4.0 – is a continued push by the administration to focus on higher-enrolled majors, while also identifying low-enrolled majors to the deans of their respective colleges for consolidation or elimination. The Responsibility Center Management (RCM) budgeting will draw institutional revenue from a student’s “primary” major.

The new model is a zero-sum budget that allocates revenue to academic colleges. Under this new model, 40% of instructional revenue will go towards a student’s primary major, which is an increase from the former model’s 25%.

The restructuring of institutional revenue came after a tumultuous last two years for low-enrolled majors. By the beginning of the 2024-2025 academic year, 17 majors were identified as having “low enrollment,” and were thus directed to increase recruitment efforts or face the threat of combining or cutting majors.

Then, in early December of 2024, professors across campus received new workload requirements, which included an increase in classes professors were expected to teach, as well as requirements surrounding their research and out-of-classroom academic activities.

David Creamer, vice president for finance and business services, introduced the new model to the University Senate at the annual budget symposium on April 14, which was enacted in all the colleges in June. However, this model will act more as guidance for the deans, rather than an actual restructuring of fiscal allocation.

This fall marks the first academic year guided by this new budget model.

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“[The budget] is part of what is discussed with the deans about where we have low-enrolled areas,” Creamer said. “What is the approach they’re going to take to try to address that … which could result in them making adjustments, reducing some of those opportunities, or it could be more focused on the recruitment for those particular programs.”

Since the model is based on a student’s primary major, additional challenges come from students who have more than one declared major, or departments that often house students with double majors.

Mary Jean Corbett, former interim chair of the Department of English, said this new budget model negatively impacts departments like English because of the primary major structure, as the four majors in the English department are often doubled up with majors in other departments or colleges across the university. In some ways, Corbett said she also sees this budget model as a disincentive for departments to create new majors.

“It’s not just bad for English,” Corbett said, “it’s bad for the College of Arts and Science, and I would assume it’s bad for some other units as well. It probably just advantages [departments like] business and engineering.”

For students like sophomore Alexis Cupp, their primary major is not always clear or important to them, and they have little say in which of their majors gets the designation as “primary.”

Cupp came to Miami last fall as a declared linguistics major, but soon changed course early in her first semester to double major in English literature and philosophy, with a minor in classical studies. To Cupp, calling one of her majors “primary” meant less about where her funds were being allocated and more about the major she is more passionate about.

“I think I would probably consider English to be my primary major, at least at this point,” Cupp said. “I feel like if I'm going to tell someone that I'm a major in something, I should have a depth of knowledge about that field, and I'm still really new to philosophy.”

Cupp is only one of many students balancing two majors at the university, across all departments. In 2023, 60% of Miami students graduated with at least one minor or additional major.

Also included in the model, 44% of instructional revenue will go toward the student’s credit hours, which includes Miami Plan courses, electives and courses required for the major.

“Miami Plan courses will not bring an instructor and the instructor’s department as much money as, say, if that course being taught is in that student’s major,” said Nathan French, chair of University Senate.

Corbett echoed these concerns about the new budget model negatively affecting Miami Plan courses, and she guessed there will be fewer sections offered for courses housed in “low-enrolled” departments.

To that, Creamer said the budget model has little to no effect on these courses, and he said the new budget model is more about “where the conversations will go with the deans this year regarding their performance under the model.”

Also included in the new model is the incentive pool, receiving 16% of the instructional revenue. This includes areas that are not financial in nature, but do receive financial resources based upon their performance on a certain set of criteria. The incentive pool includes things like graduation, as well as research and scholarly achievement.

“There’s no financial implication from this,” Creamer said. “[RCM 4.0] is being used as a tool to look at the performance of each of the colleges, each of the departments and programs within the college – then that leads to discussion about where we should go in the future.”

patelou@miamioh.edu

@OliviaPatel555