President Bill Perry has implemented a steering committee to assist the university in making budget decisions for the coming years.

The Steering Committee for Program Analysis will consist of members across the Eastern community that will work to help Eastern succeed in a fiscally responsible and resourceful manner.

William Weber, the vice president for business affairs and chairman of the committee, said the committee will function under the direction of Perry’s charge outlined in the University Newsletter.

“(Perry) is asking the committee to do some analysis and develop a report that will provide a guide for moving forward in this environment of limited and uncertain funding,” he said.

The goals of the committee, as outlined in the announcement President Perry made in the University Newsletter, consist of ways for Eastern to grow as a university and continue to be financially responsible with the resources it has.

The goals include allocating and reallocating university resources to support academic excellence, strengthening programs that foster sustainable enrollment, supporting university financial sustainability and identifying opportunities to decrease costs.

“This report will be a guide for the vice presidents in the future,” he said. “The project will take the full academic year.”

Weber said Perry has asked the committee to give the final report in May 2013.

“The first step is to define the level of program analysis each vice presidential area may need,” he said. “In some cases, it may just be appropriate to consider the program as the unit itself, but in other cases it may need to be subdivided into various components.”

Weber said after program definition, the next key step is to develop metrics and measures.

The programs will be assessed using several items including narrative history of the program, internal and external demand, quality of outcomes, resource generation, productivity, costs, affect on the university’s mission and future opportunities for the program.

“Throughout the process, there’s going to have to be a lot of consultation with the campus community,” Weber said. “We are committed to a transparent and open process.”

According to Perry’s announcement, the steering committee will use a designated website and have open meetings to communicate with the campus community.

“This charge from the president is one of the elements in our strategic plan,” he said. “One of the things we committed to was a top-to-bottom program analysis, and this is just one stage of implementing our strategic plan.”

Weber said after the final report is put out in May, it will be used to provide guidance to all the vice presidential areas in terms of how to allocate and reallocate funds as Eastern navigates its current uncertain financial future.

“We want to provide direction and guidance as funding continues to shift,” Weber said. “There will be many opportunities for the campus community to be a part of the efforts.”

Mark Hudson, the director of Housing and Dining Services, is a member of the committee and said the first meeting will take place on Oct. 22.

“I’m appreciative of being invited to be on the committee, and it will certainly be an important committee, but we’ll have to wait to hear more details on Monday,” he said.

Robyn Dexter can be reached at 581-2812 or redexter@eiu.edu.