What are the programs in planning, programming, budgeting?

As organizations of all kinds grow larger, more diverse and more decentralized, they come to share a common error … that of unrealistic, imbalanced long-range planning. The application of program budgeting and systems analysis to this problem can establish realistic goals and more balanced and nearly optimal programs.

In order to adapt the theories of planning-programming-budgeting systems to an educational organization, certain technical decisions must be made concerning program structure. For a multi-campus university such as the University of California, the question became one of projecting future resource and monetary requirements in such form that key policy decisions affecting resource requirements were readily apparent and that programmed requirements were translatable into budget categories. The base projections are the numbers of students by level and discipline. From these, resource and dollar requirements are assessed with regard to faculty, support (instructional equipment and supplies), capital outlay, plant maintenance and operation, and libraries. Those areas not based on student projections include organized research and public service. General administration projections are based on total expenditures. This breakdown provides a working structure from which to make finer allocations according to individual campus needs.

Another technical consideration is the determination of the degree of centralization of decision-making. Program budgeting makes possible a higher degree of centralization but is consistent with any degree which is appropriate in the circumstances. The objective at the University of California is the progressive decentralization to the individual campuses not only of operating authority, but also of much initiative in planning. There are constraints, such as a dollar ceiling related to a specific student enrollment, but these do not prevent experimentation and diversity. The university-wide program model can serve as a standard, with allowances for advantageous transfers of funds with full understanding of their future consequences and implications, thus maintaining both local initiative and the systems approach.