Continuous improvement and collaboration are two themes that resonate with the Budget Office and Administrative Technologies (AT). A need to retire an aging technology coupled with an opportunity for new, useful features, led to the recent unveiling of Budget Center.
The project ultimately resulted in a highly valuable tool after many hours of dynamic problem solving and teamwork between the Budget Office and AT. While not everyone on campus uses Budget Center, everyone in the campus community does benefit. Many new or significantly enhanced features will allow budget managers to have more timely information at their fingertips to analyze budgets more efficiently.
Some of the new features include:
- An expanded view of historical data.
- Personnel expenditures for all fund types.
- Reports that can be exported for additional analysis.
- Quick, easy-to-read dashboards and charts.
- Auto-generated reports with a subscription option.
- A user-friendly and accessible budget transfer application.
A focus group was included in the design process. Their input during the design is paying dividends in user happiness. Destini Fincham, business associate in the Office of the Provost, described Budget Center as “a sophisticated system that allows you to view a large variety of data in many formats and report views. I am able to keep my fiscal agent informed on all the accounts on a regular basis.”
Others have taken note of the effort to collaborate to deliver value in-line with the University’s mission and vision. Jason Wagoner, director for research and sponsored programs, added “A project like this shows ISU’s willingness to identify and solve problems, both big and small. Campus leaders are actively encouraging excellent support, this is a great example of that vision taking form.”
For further information on the new Budget Center, contact Amanda Hendrix, Budget Office director, at amhendr@ilstu.edu.
