Budget Update

We had our first budget hearing with new President Dr. Joe DiPietro recently and were very pleased with the feedback. Because this was our first budget meeting with Dr. DiPietro, we pulled together quite a bit of background information on IPS, our workforce, customer measurements and of course financial specifics.


All of you are aware of the economic woes and budget constraints we’ve experienced for the last few years. However, thanks to everyone’s efforts we have survived reasonably well and things are looking much better. Because of cuts in the state budget over the years, IPS relies more on local appropriations, fees and program income, and gift revenues. IPS maximizes the impact of state funds by leveraging every $1 of state appropriation to produce $1.62 of additional funds.

Dr. DiPietro and the UT Treasurer’s office are also well aware that IPS along with parts of the Institute of Agriculture and UT Health and Science Center, are unable to use a tuition increase to raise funds. We had a good discussion during our meeting about the possibility of crafting an outcomes-based formula for state funding, along the lines of the formula used by the state to compute funding for academic campuses.

IPS revenues and expenses are expected to be approximately $22.5 million in FY 2012, down approximately seven percent from FY11 because of the loss of stimulus funds, which we had accounted for all along. You can find additional detailed information on the IPS Intranet site under the budget tab. The budget must be approved by the UT board of trustees before it is official.

Thank you again for your efforts in helping IPS come through these last few years without having to sacrifice the top-notch service we provide to our customers.