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Extension Operations

Ohio State University Extension

CFAES

What the Budget Impacts Mean for OSU Extension

Short-term implications/strategies: 

  • Ongoing reduction in expenses in some areas (e.g., travel, hiring pauses) 
  • Looking at state-level options for absorbing the cuts from the state and assisting counties 
  • We continue to explore opportunities to secure stimulus funding, generate new revenues, and engage donors. 
  • Working with CFAES HR and CFAES Finance to provide as much flexibility for identifying and implementing strategies to keep our employees in place  

Long-term implications/strategies: 

  • Ongoing review and prioritization of organizational/ programmatic investments 
  • Revenue generation (state and local) 
  • Grants and contracts (state and local) 
  • Ongoing reduction in expenses in some areas (e.g., travel) 
  • Partnering with advancement for state and local fundraising 

Budget planning and decision-making (tools coming out Wednesday):
We are sending each county budget proposal steward and the area leaders the county financial overview and reserves information in pivot tables, with strategies for identifying ways to save locally, to allow each county to identify ways to proactively plan for 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20% reduction scenarios from their county appropriations, if their local county commissioners request such reductions. Each office should work together to come up with a plan for how you would respond to a requested reduction in appropriations. If you feel that any level of these reductions would be a fiscal strain on your particular county budget, your area leader should reach out immediately to Jesse Buxton, Jeff McCutcheon, or me to discuss. 

The state-level offices will be performing a similar process in the next few weeks. I will be working with our administrative cabinet to inform these discussions. 

We still simply do not have all of the information necessary to tell you exactly what final budget impacts will be. A great deal depends on how the economy responds to the reopening of businesses and how effectively people respond to required Ohio Department of Health and CDC guidelines for continuing to limit the spread of the virus.