MSCHE Self Study April 2021

outcomes of these meetings serve as a basis to establish the following year’s performance expectations.

COVID ‐ 19 Impact : Throughout the pandemic, the Senior Management Team continued all strategic and planning activities. All meetings were held as usual via Zoom. There have been no modifications to institutional planning and institutional effectiveness assessment.

Budgeting and Financial Management As stated in the College’s Assessment Plan , resource allocation is driven by the College’s mission, goals and objectives. As indicated in the annual Budget Call Letter , when submitting an annual Budget Request Form and Request for Extraordinary Items , vice ‐ presidents are asked to justify each request by linking it to a specific component of the strategic plan. As a state ‐ operated entity, the College is subject to the rules, regulations, operating and audit procedures that govern other New York State agencies. Information systems with regard to financial operations (purchasing, payroll, personnel, etc.) are linked to the SUNY system ‐ wide network, the Office of the State Comptroller and the Department of Civil Service. The College follows New York State Budget Process as detailed in the Budget Manual . Departmental managers are provided access to a SUNY system ‐ developed monitoring tool Business Intelligence (BI) on the SUNY portal, wherein they can view the accounts under their responsibility. Since SUNY State College of Optometry is part of the State University of New York, it does not have campus ‐ specific audited financial statements or management letters. Typically, campuses within SUNY do not have audited financial statements or management letters. The College is held accountable within the systems of the University and State of New York. All campus fiscal information is fed to the SUNY Controller who compiles this campus information with others within the SUNY system to produce consolidated financial statements that are then audited by an independent auditor. The information is available in the integrated post ‐ secondary education data system (IPEDS) database. Although GASB promulgates that State appropriations revenue is not considered operating revenue, it is included as operating revenue for purposes of ratio analysis per university external auditors ( Quarterly Financial Operating Report and SUNY Annual Financial Report ). The Internal Control Act , more specifically referred to as the New York State Governmental Accountability, Audit and Internal Control Act (originated in Chapter 814 of the Laws of 1987, then made permanent in Chapter 510 of the Laws of 1999), requires that all State agencies, including SUNY, institute a formal internal control program. Internal controls are designed to promote performance leading to the effective accomplishment of the College’s goals and objectives .

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