Dear Colleagues,

Over the last several years, we have done a great deal of work to strengthen the Brown School of Public Health’s capacity to advance its mission and make a difference in the world through exceptional teaching and research focused on improving population health. This has included comprehensive strategic planning and attention to operational excellence. 

Central to our success is having a sustainable budget model. Toward this end, we have worked with Huron Consulting Group over the last year to assess the School’s financial model in conjunction with the University base budgeting process. Huron was selected because they were a partner in the development of the School’s strategic plan, and our primary goal in this undertaking has been to ensure that we are positioned to allocate resources effectively and efficiently to achieve our greatest aspirations. I write to provide an update on the in-depth evaluation of the budget and financial model, and with regard to actions we plan to take in the coming months to address findings of this review and position the School for ongoing success and impact.  

Background

An executive committee, which I chaired and that was composed of key stakeholders from the School and University leadership, worked closely with Huron Consulting Group to develop a set of recommendations to strengthen the School’s long-term financial planning and overall fiscal standing. Specifically, this review was conducted to identify opportunities to increase budget transparency, ensure the strategic allocation of resources, identify new revenue-generating opportunities, and provide a strong foundation for increased philanthropic giving in the future.

After several months of meetings with individuals within the School, including with senior leaders, faculty and administrative staff, and informed by in-depth analyses of internal and external data, we have completed this extensive financial review. I want to thank everyone who contributed to this effort. This level of partnership was necessary to gain the insights needed to inform decision making, and has resulted in important recommendations designed to achieve our goals.

Findings & Next Steps

What is outlined here is a summary of key findings from the review, followed by a set of broad recommendations that we plan to put into effect based on these findings. 

• Increase revenue diversity: While the School has experienced significant revenue growth in recent years, driven primarily by grant funding, the review revealed an opportunity to diversify the School’s revenue by increasing enrollments in Master’s programs to grow tuition revenue, and advancing philanthropic giving to support the School’s strategic priorities. 
• Address space constraints that are limiting growth: The review found that physical space constraints are limiting the School’s ability to grow its academic programs and research activity. 
• Redesign the budget model and processes based on best practices: The review identified opportunities to restructure the School’s budget model to incentivize more effectively research productivity and introduce greater transparency into the budgeting process.
• Realign administrative infrastructure in the School to enable long term financial planning and analysis: The review revealed the need to realign the roles and responsibilities of the central administration to focus on long-term financial planning and analysis.

To address these challenges, we will implement recommendations in two phases: We will work closely with Interim Dean David Savitz to implement the first phase of work this summer, and will then work with incoming Dean Ashish Jha to implement the second phase in the fall and beyond.  

As an initial step, we will take the following actions this summer:
 

1. Restructure the financial relationship between the School of Public Health and the University: In partnership with Dean Jha, the Provost's Office and Chief Financial Officer Mike White and his team, we are working on implementing an improved financial model that rewards faculty productivity by allowing the School to retain 100% of the indirect revenue generated. Additionally, our goal is for the new model to rationalize financial exchanges between the School and University, to strengthen its long-term financial health and position the School to expand its existing global reach.
2. Conduct a space study: Associate Provost for Space Tom Roberts and the Facilities Management team are conducting a space study for the School of Public Health to assess needs and evaluate options for increasing space. The study of 121 South Main Street will investigate the possibility of renovating parts of the building to free up additional space. We are also exploring whether we can bring new space online to address current constraints and enable future growth.
3. Align the School’s central administration with the long-term needs of the School: In collaboration with University Human Resources, we are working to restructure the current central administration team to align roles, skills, and responsibilities within the team with financial and strategic needs of the School. The University’s Finance Division and Human Resources will work closely with staff within the School to minimize disruption to ongoing operations during this period of transition.

The School of Public Health community has worked diligently and with significant commitment in recent years to advance its standing and impact. The actions emanating from this review will build upon and propel the efforts and aspirations of the School of Public Health community to achieve its goals. 

I am grateful to all who contributed to this work, and to interim Dean David Savitz and the School’s leadership team for their continued partnership moving forward.  

Sincerely,

Richard M. Locke
Provost