The Budget Transformation Initiative is an element of Budget & Finance Excellence, one of six strategic initiatives for the Operations, Finance and Support division. The initiative is an important project that will support and enable the university's strategic goals of developing a budget that reflects Rice's values. This effort is led by Provost Amy Dittmar, Executive Vice President for Operations, Finance & Support Kelly Fox, and Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer Katrina Spencer. The academic mission will guide the initiative. A new budget model will provide increased transparency while building incentives into the budget model to support schools' and administrative units' increased ability to understand and leverage opportunities, growth, possibilities, and outcomes.
- The project is led by a partnership between the Provost and the Executive Vice President for Operations, Finance & Support.
Guiding Principles:
Project Timeline
Beginning FY26, the project is in the Full Implementation phase. Schools and support units are held harmless throughout the FY25 budget model implementation. This ensures that schools and support units have sufficient time to adjust and prepare for the impact of the new budget model in future years.
If you have questions, please email budgettransformation@rice.edu at any time to engage with the project team.
Project Governance
Executive Sponsors
Provost Amy Dittmar, Executive Vice President for Operations, Finance & Support Kelly Fox, and Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer Katrina Spencer are the executive sponsors. The three executive sponsors convene, oversee, and provide parameters for the Steering Committee and consider the recommendations provided to them through the BTI governance structure to make final budget model decisions.
| Name | Campus Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Reggie DesRoches | President of Rice University |
| Amy Dittmar | Howard R. Hughes Provost |
| Kelly Fox | Executive Vice President of Operations, Finance & Support |
| Katrina Spencer | Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer |
Steering Committee
The Steering Committee plays a crucial role in reviewing and discussing model design recommendations put forth by the Design Committee. The Steering Committee ensures alignment with Rice's mission and strategic priorities and delivers final recommendations to the Executive Sponsors.
| Name | Campus Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Amy Dittmar | Howard R. Hughes Provost |
| Kelly Fox | Executive Vice President of Operations, Finance & Support |
| Katrina Spencer | Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer |
| C. Fred Higgs III | Vice Provost of Academic Affairs |
| Kathleen Fabiny | Associate Vice President for Budget and Fiscal Analysis |
| Carlos Garcia | Associate Vice President for Research Operations and Administration |
| Peter Rodriguez | Dean of the Jones Graduate School of Business |
| Igor Marjanović | Dean of the School of Architecture |
| Luay Nakhleh | Dean of the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing |
| Kathleen Canning | Dean of the School of Humanities |
| Matthew Loden | Dean of the Shepherd School of Music |
| Thomas C. Killian | Dean of the Wiess School of Natural Sciences |
| Rachel Tolbert Kimbro | Dean of the School of Social Sciences |
| Rob Bruce | Dean of the Glasscock School of Continuing Studies |
| Bridget Gorman | Dean of Undergraduates |
| Seiichi Matsuda | Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies |
| Paul Padley | Vice President of the Office of Information Technology |
| Cynthia Pepper | |
| Mauricio Benitez | Associate Provost and Senior Advisor |
| Mia Culton | Associate Provost for Academic Budgetary Affairs |
Design Committee
The Design Committee brings together diverse campus perspectives to provide recommendations to the Steering Committee on budget model design elements.
| Name | Campus Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Katrina Spencer | Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer |
| Mia Culton | Associate Provost for Academic Budgetary Affairs |
| Kathleen Fabiny | Associate Vice President for Budget and Fiscal Analysis (Co-chair) |
| Christy Witt | Executive Director of Institutional Research and Analytics Institutional Research representative |
| Yesenia Montoya | Assistant Vice Provost Access and Institutional Excellence representative |
| Terri Arellano | Executive Director of Operations Kinder Institute representative |
| Carlos Garcia | Associate Vice President for Research Operations and Administration |
| Kate Cross | Associate Dean, Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies |
| Angela Lipari (Administrative Budget Officer) | Assistant Vice President for Strategic Initiative Support |
| Kevin Yuen (Administrative Budget Officer) | Business Director in Housing and Dining |
| Pamela Marut (Administrative Budget Officer) | Director of Financial and Business Services |
| Timothy Pitts (Academic Budget Officer) | Executive Director of Financial Services, Rice Business |
| Lisa Birenbaum (Academic Budget Officer) | Assistant Dean of the School of Social Sciences |
| Stephanie Post (Administrative Budget Officer) | Interim Director of Administration and Finance, OIT |
| Anne Tai (Auxiliary Budget Officer) | Assistant Dean of the Glasscock School of Continuing Studies |
| Chris Jermaine (Computer Science Department Chair) | Director, Master of Data Science Program, Professor of Computer Science, J.S. Abercrombie Professor of Engineering |
| Kirsten Ostherr | Gladys Louise Professor of English, Director of Medical Humanities |
| Ed Nikonowicz (Biosciences Department Chair) | Professor of BioSciences |
| Victoria Langlais | Senior Assistant Dean of Human Resources & Administration |
Working Groups
Working groups consist of subject matter experts from across the Rice community, and they are convened on a rolling basis by the Design Committee to provide recommendations on specific topics. Working groups have been called to make recommendations on Space Use and Research F&A recovery.
Advisory Groups
Advisory groups include various forums such as Select Trustee meetings, Budget Officer convenings, Faculty senate meetings, Admin Forum Meetings, Chair convenings, and Staff Council meetings. Participating in these groups and sharing project progress updates enriches the transformation process.
