Guiding Your Unit Through the Budget Reduction Process

DEO Essentials

Guiding Your Unit Through the Budget Reduction Process

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Budget challenges are never easy. UNL has a clear process in place to ensure that difficult budget decisions are made thoughtfully, transparently, and with shared governance. The Academic Planning Committee plays a central role in shared governance by reviewing and making recommendations on proposed reductions and reallocations.

Department Executive Officers play a vital yet challenging role in helping units navigate this process. When APC hearings are announced, part of a DEO's role is to serve as the unit’s clearest voice and strongest advocate. This can feel like a heavy responsibility, but you do not carry it alone. 

By preparing early; engaging faculty, students, and staff in the process; connecting your unit’s strengths to the university's mission and strategic priorities; and caring for your own well-being, you give your unit the best chance to be heard and valued in the decision-making process.

Here is information that can be helpful as you prepare and communicate with members of your unit and the APC. 

Key Things to Know

  • Shared governance: Administrators consult Deans, Faculty Senate, Staff Senate, ASUN Student Government, Graduate Student Assembly, and the APC throughout the budget reduction process. 
  • Process begins: The Chancellor initiates the budget reduction process, following APC budget reduction procedures, when significant budget shortfalls or reallocations are identified.
  • Decision framework: The Chancellor creates a framework document outlining the scope, rationale, and timeline for budget reductions and shares with the APC. 
  • Transparency and consultation: Faculty, staff, and student representatives on the APC have a chance to provide input before proposals are finalized and shared with the public.
  • Public hearings: The APC gathers feedback from affected units, faculty, staff, students, and sometimes external stakeholders. Criteria considered include program demand, quality, accreditation, productivity, impact on other programs, and alignment with the university's strategic priorities.
  • Final decisions: The APC shares final recommendations with the Chancellor, who will take them into consideration for the final budget reduction plan. Some decisions may require approval by the NU Board of Regents.

How to Prepare and Advocate

Significant budget reductions are never easy; they have real impact on people and programs. These decisions are only made when absolutely necessary, and even strong advocacy may not be enough to protect positions or programs. As a DEO, your role extends beyond presenting your unit’s case – you are also a source of steadiness and support for your faculty, students, and staff. By approaching these conversations with honesty, compassion, and care, you can help your unit navigate this difficult time and strengthen its resilience. 

  • Engage your faculty, students, and staff: Create opportunities for discussion so everyone feels they have a voice.
  • Gather strong evidence: Be ready with data that demonstrates your unit’s contributions such as enrollment, student success, research productivity, accreditation standing, partnerships, and community impact.
  • Highlight connections: Show how your programs support other departments, colleges, and the university's strategic priorities. Interdisciplinary ties and wider community impacts often strengthen the case for maintaining support.
  • Anticipate questions: Prepare responses to possible concerns about demand, efficiency, effectiveness, or overlap with other programs.
  • Tell your story: Numbers matter, but narratives matter too. Be prepared to communicate how your unit advances the university's missions of teaching, research, creative activity, extension, and service. Present your unit’s strengths in terms of measurable impact through enrollment, retention, graduation, productivity, partnerships, outcomes, and workforce demands, and provide compelling stories of faculty and student success.
  • Support your people: Budget discussions are stressful. Keep communications open, acknowledge uncertainty, and remind faculty, students, and staff of available support.

Communication Tips 

In times of uncertainty, communication is not just about sharing information, it is also about offering reassurance and stability. Your unit will look to you for clarity, honesty, and compassion as they navigate challenges. By communicating with openness and care, you can ease anxiety, strengthen trust, and help your unit face difficult outcomes with resilience and a sense of shared purpose. 

  • Be clear and consistent: Share information openly and regularly, even if all the answers aren’t yet available. Consistency builds trust and reduces rumors.
  • Adopt a calm, steady tone: Model steadiness under uncertainty. Your tone sets the emotional climate for your unit.
  • Acknowledge uncertainty and emotions: Recognize the stress and anxiety faculty, students, and staff may be feeling. Active listening can enhance your conversations and help them feel heard.
  • Balance honesty with hope: Be transparent about challenges while also emphasizing the unit’s strengths and collective resilience. However, be cautious about what you promise or commitments you make.
  • Contextualize the process: Explain how the APC process works, what criteria are considered, and where unit voices fit in. Be sensitive to information overload. Understanding the structure reduces fear, but too much information can increase it.
  • Avoid surprises: Share updates as soon as they’re appropriate to disclose, after giving yourself time to process your own emotions. Surprises erode trust and amplify stress.
  • Emphasize shared governance: Reinforce that unit input matters and how they will be represented in the APC hearings. Encourage constructive engagement.
  • Show care for individuals: Reach out personally to those whose programs or positions may be most affected. A private, supportive conversation is as important as group communication.
  • Maintain community: Create formal or informal spaces for faculty, students, and staff to talk, ask questions, and support one another. Collective resilience grows through connection.
  • End communications with next steps: Always clarify what will happen next and when people can expect updates. Predictability provides stability.

Self-care Tips

Budget reductions impact everyone, including leaders. As a DEO, you shoulder the responsibility of guiding your unit through uncertainty while often carrying the weight of others’ stress and concerns. It’s natural for this to feel heavy. To lead with steadiness and compassion, it’s important to prioritize your own well-being so you can stay clear-headed, resilient, and present for both your unit and yourself. 

  • Acknowledge the weight of the role: Recognize that leading through budget reductions is emotionally taxing. It’s normal to feel pressure, frustration, or even guilt. Naming these feelings helps you manage them.
  • Set healthy boundaries: Protect time away from work discussions. Give yourself permission not to be “on call” every hour of the day.
  • Lean on peer support: Connect with other DEOs or trusted colleagues who understand the challenges. Sharing experiences helps reduce isolation.
  • Seek mentorship or coaching: Your Dean, the Associate Vice Chancellor for Faculty Affairs, or a mentor can provide perspective and help you manage both institutional demands and personal stress.
  • Prioritize rest and routine: Adequate sleep, regular meals, and physical activity are protective against burnout. Stability in your own life will help you lead with steadiness.
  • Use available resources: UNL's Employee Assistance Program offers counseling and HealthierU provides wellness resources.
  • Practice small resets: Step outside, take a short walk, or practice mindful breathing before difficult conversations or hearings. Even brief pauses can restore focus.
  • Celebrate small wins: Acknowledge progress whether it’s faculty feeling heard, a strong case presented, or a moment of collegial support. Recognizing positives builds resilience.
  • Remember your own humanity: You are not just a DEO, you are also a person with limits. Extending compassion to yourself makes it easier to extend it to others.

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