Various budgeting patterns and strategies are currently in use, each with its own particular strengths and weaknesses. Neither cost-benefit analysis nor cost-effectiveness analysis offers any better solution to the allocation problem than do the unsupported contentions of departments or the historical unit costs. An operable model that performs…

Procedures permit grouping departments on variables that provide an equitable basis for departmental funding. The series of steps is outlined whereby the financial significance of various process and role variables can be determined. (Editor/LBH)

Ways that program review, budget history, and budget projections can be used to determine annual budgets for multi-college departments are discussed. A model for funding and crediting is proposed that is used to determine the proportion of the total departmental general-fund budget. (Editor/LBH)

Methods by which annual evaluation and review of departments at Michigan State has moved from a limited exercise to a valued administrative tool are described. A model is used that has as its basic unit the academic department and that is an operational system for departmental review and resource allocation in a complex university. (Editor/LBH)