How are decisions made at Berkeley?
Because Berkeley is a public institution, the chancellor ensures that many groups are involved in budgetary decision-making. In a typical year, the chancellor starts the budget process in the fall, reviewing the regents’ November budget proposal to the state and launching the campus budget cycle for the following fiscal year. In January, after the governor comes out with a state budget proposal, the chancellor begins consulting more broadly, through conversations with the Cabinet, Council of Deans, Chancellor’s Executive Advisory Committee, and representatives of the Academic Senate. Finally, the chancellor sends out a budgetary call letter to the vice chancellors in late January. The budget call letter typically asks vice chancellors to provide basic budget information about their respective areas, discuss plans for repayment of deficits or loans, indicate funding needs for the coming year, and if needed, propose strategies for budgetary reduction. Vice chancellors generally prepare b
