Budget Development

The All‐Funds Budget is an operating budget for the university which accounts for each of the university’s primary fund types (i.e. general funds, auxiliary trust funds, overhead receipts, and restricted trust funds).

Revenue and expense plans are to be developed according to standardized budgeting conventions (available here) and assigned to standardized revenue and expense accounts.

As part of this process, an all-funds budget will be developed at the institution-wide level, but also for each of the organizational units listed in the following chart.

All-Funds Specified Units

Fiscal Year (FY) 27 All-Funds Budget Planning Schedule

The following schedule and corresponding action-items will be used to establish the FY27 All-Funds Budget.

FY27 Budget Planning Process (campus timeline)

Current Year (FY) Plans

FY26 All-Funds Budget
FY26 All-Funds Budget Narrative/Details

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Budget Summaries

Multi-Year Budget Summaries

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Prior Fiscal Year (FY) Plans

FY25 All-Funds Budget
FY25 All-Funds Budget Narrative/Details

FY24 All-Funds Budget
FY24 All-Funds Budget Narrative/Details

*These are for print purposes only. Please contact budgetoffice@uncw.edu if you need these in a specific format.

Relationship to Enrollment Growth Funding

Enrollment growth funding provided to UNCW on an annual basis is to be incorporated into applicable All-Funds Budget Plans and was incorporated into the FY26 All-Funds Budget. Specific information about how new enrollment growth funding has been invested in recent years is available by fiscal year at:  FY25 Allocations ,  FY24 Allocations , and  FY23 Allocations .

These documents are intended for print purposes. If you need any of the above documents in another format or require prior year budget information, please contact the budget office directly 910.962.2207 or  BudgetOffice@uncw.edu.

The biennial budget provides general operating funds (state) for each year of the biennium to continue the existing, authorized level of services. This provides the same level of service in future years as was provided in the current budget year.

The biennial budget is developed in the fall of even number years. Authorized requests are limited to inflationary increases to specific line items, personnel-related items, equipment replacement, specific non-recurring items, and building reserves.

Resources

• Office of State Budget and Management (OSBM) Job Aids

The biennial expansion budget provides general operating funds (state) for expansion of existing programs, new programs, and salary increases and/or benefits for faculty and state employees. Expansion budget items focus on the priorities outlined by the Governor. The biennial expansion budget is developed in the late summer/early fall of even numbered years.

• New or Pilot Programs
• Phase-In of Programs Initiated in a Previous Biennium
• One-time Major Equipment Purchases

The Tuition and Fee Process must follow all guidelines set forth in The UNC Policy Manual. Section 1000.1.1 of The UNC Policy Manual provides specific information on both Campus-Initiated Tuition Increases (CITI) and Student Fees. Throughout this process every effort will be made to keep tuition and fees for students as low as possible while providing revenues needed to support the specific purposes for which they are charged.

The Chancellor has established a Student Tuition and Fee Advisory Committee which will review the financial situation at UNC Wilmington and recommend to the cabinet an appropriate course of action concerning student tuition and fee increases. This committee will include representatives of all aspects of campus life, including, but not limited to, university administrators, faculty, staff, and students. The committee's plan is typically completed by the end of October to allow adequate time for the Board of Trustees and the University's senior officers to review and approve it.

All increase requests must be submitted to UNC - General Administration usually no later than mid-December of each year. In accordance with The UNC Policy Manual, the Board of Governors will act by February of each year, or as soon as possible thereafter, to establish the University's campus-initiated tuition and fee rates for the next academic year.

Resources

• UNCW Tuition and Fees (Web)
• FY24 CITI Recommendation Summary (PDF)
• UNCW Historical Tuition and Fees (Web)
• UNC Policy Manual 1000.1.1 (Web)

These documents are intended for print purposes. If you need any of the above forms in another format, please contact the budget office directly at BudgetOffice@uncw.edu.

The budget development process for special funds is a UNC Wilmington internal process. Special funds are receipt-supported. The budgets are developed in the departments annually at two different times.

• Housing, Parking, and Food Services develop their budgets in October and are due to the Budget Office in December.
• All other campus departments develop their budgets in December and are due to the Budget Office in January.

Special funds budget development is an annual internal process where university departments build and submit changes to the upcoming year's non-general budgeted funds:

• A custom UNCW Special Funds Budget Development application is used for this process.
• The application usually becomes available each January for the upcoming budget cycle.
• Budgets are generally approved by May 1st.
• Remember to check with your divisional contact for your unit’s deadline as many divisions establish earlier deadlines.
• Your submitted budget request should reflect all reasonable, anticipated requirements and receipts for the coming fiscal year.
• You are accountable for developing a complete and reasonable budget as a budget manager.

Please thoroughly review programs and operations planned in the coming year, including non-cyclical or one-time expenditures. For example: major equipment purchases and changes in activities.

Context & Philosophy

UNC Wilmington recognizes the operational appeal of Responsibility Center Management (RCM) models – particularly their emphasis on aligning resources with enrollment demand and incentivizing productivity.  At the same time, fully decentralized RCM systems can introduce volatility and fragmentation.  Conversely, pure zero-based budgeting, while rigorous, can be overly transactional and disconnected from structural academic realities. 

UNCW’s Sustainable Resource Framework (SRF) represents a tailored hybrid approach. SRF integrates demand responsiveness with strategic stewardship – allowing the institution to scale pragmatically while preserving long-term stability.

Purpose

SRF ensures that recurring academic and instructional resource commitments are aligned with measurable demand, research momentum, workforce relevance, and strategic priorities.  In practice, SRF directly informs academic resource decisions, including faculty capacity planning, program investment, and strategic academic initiatives.

The framework is jointly implemented by Academic Affairs and the Division of Business Affairs through an annual, data-informed review process.

Core Framework of SRF

1. Instructional Demand & Productivity

Faculty capacity adjusts in proportion to sustained enrollment patterns. This ensures capacity aligns with demand while avoiding short-term volatility.  The SRF framework evaluates:

• Multi-year Student Credit Hour (SCH) trends
• Multi-year Faculty FTE trends
• Benchmarking of SCH-to-faculty ratios within disciplinary context

2. Program Vitality & Market Alignment

Resource decisions account for program health and disciplinary context.  This protects academic rigor and positions programs to meet workforce needs.  SRF considers:

• Alignment with high-demand workforce sectors identified by the NC DOC
• Multi-year trends in declared majors
• Accreditation demands and requirements

3. Strategic Considerations

Beyond baseline capacity adjustments, SRF supports targeted investments that advance academic strategic priorities, including:

• New program development and innovation
• Research, Scholarship, and Artistic/Service/Engagement

Operational Implementation

Each year, SRF guides the university’s budget development process through a structured review of academic units (departments) using clearly defined evaluative measures. The SRF review serves as the primary analytical framework informing allocation discussions by grounding decisions in multi-year data and consistent standards. However, SRF does not function as a formulaic or automatic budget model. Final budget allocation plans are developed jointly by the Provost and the Vice Chancellor for Business Affairs, in consultation with their respective teams, and are presented to the Chancellor as part of the annual All Funds Budget development process.