City College of San Francisco - California Competes

STANDARD III.D
III. Strengths & Areas for Improvement
1. The College has implemented a comprehensive
budget planning system that integrates
financial planning with institutional planning.
There is a strong connection between the
priorities contained in the Strategic Plan
2003–2008 and the Annual Plan that the
Planning and Budgeting Council recommends
to the Board of Trustees each year. The
institution clearly defines, widely distributes,
and follows its guidelines and processes for
financial planning and budgeting on an
annual basis. Financial information is
provided throughout the institution, both
on paper and electronically, to a variety of
groups in a timely manner. The institution is
committed to a budget planning process that
relies on realistic assessments of available
resources and strategic efforts for attracting
additional resources. The College has been
successful in its efforts to generate financial
support from both grant agencies and private
donors.
The institution considers its long-range
financial priorities to assure financial
stability in making short-range financial
plans. When state revenues slumped, the
institution managed its reserve funds in
an intelligent manner to meet the goal of
protecting direct spending for students.
To ensure its long-term fiscal stability, the
College needs to develop and implement
a comprehensive plan to match ongoing
spending with ongoing revenue. Therefore,
the College’s Planning and Budgeting Council
will be reviewing proposals for ongoing
savings during the Fall 2005 semester in
anticipation of the need to reduce spending
during the 2006-07 fiscal year. In addition,
the institution needs to address the cost of
retiree health benefits which represents a
significant financial challenge in the future.
2. Financial documents, including the budget
and the independent audit, reflect appropriate
allocation and use of financial resources to
support student learning programs and
services. The College focuses spending on
student learning as evidenced by its history
of high numbers related to the “fifty percent
law” and the “seventy-five percent law.” While
resources for the support of student learning
programs and services are not optimal, the
institution has made informed and intelligent
decisions in a Shared Governance setting
related to the distribution of these relatively
scarce resources.
3. The College has sufficient cash flow and
reserves to maintain stability, strategies for
appropriate risk management, and realistic
plans to meet financial emergencies and
unforeseen occurrences. The institution
has made concerted efforts to meet the State
Chancellor’s guidelines for a 5 percent fund
balance and acknowledges how difficult that is
during under-funded years. While the College
needed to transfer an additional $800,000
from its reserve for the 2005-06 budget, the
administration recognizes the need to rebuild
the reserve exclusive of the value of its longterm
prepaid lease over the next several years.
The cash flow needs of the District have been
supported through the issuance of TRANS, and
risk management needs are handled through
SWACC.
4. The institution practices effective oversight of
all of its finances. Its most recent audit report,
issued for fiscal year 2004, was unqualified
and did not identify any material weaknesses.
The findings of that external audit were
addressed promptly. The institution monitors
finances not only for the College itself but
also for the auxiliary bookstore and separate
foundation as well. The institution makes
extensive efforts to connect spending with
planning, and has consistently done so with
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