UC Merced strives to be transparent about its financial picture. Campus leadership work strategically to exercise fiscal responsibility while keeping the campus community engaged with town halls, meetings with stakeholders and messages to the campus community.
Questions or comments? Contact us at dofa@ucmerced.edu or send anonymous questions or feedback at Ask DFA.
Financial Stabilization Planning
UC Merced is engaged in a multi-year financial stabilization plan to ensure long-term financial sustainability. This effort reflects broader challenges facing higher education nationally, including shifting enrollment patterns, rising operational costs, and uncertainty in federal and state funding. Visit the Financial Stabilization Planning website for detailed information and resources.
Communications
2025
Nov. 21: Campus Financial Stabilization Plan
Nov. 21: Financial Transparency Town Hall Set for Dec. 2
June 5: Research Sustainability Funds
May 28: Prioritizing Our Purpose and People
Mar. 13: Update on Budget Reduction Planning and Next Steps
Jan. 23: Demonstrating Resilience in Budget Reduction Planning
2024
Nov. 18: Budget Reduction Exercise
Oct. 9: Financial Transparency Town Hall Set for Oct. 23
Mar. 27: Financial Transparency Town Hall Set for April 10
2023
Nov. 8: Financial Transparency Town Hall Set for Nov. 20
Feb. 22: Financial Transparency Town Hall Set for March 9
Feb. 6: FY 2023-24 Budget Call Letter Posted
Financial Transparency Town Halls
Dec. 2, 2025 | 2pm via Zoom: Co-hosted by Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer Kurt Schnier and Associate Vice Chancellor for Financial Planning and Analysis Bianca Khanona,
Oct. 23, 2024: Co-hosted by Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer Kurt Schnier, Associate Vice Chancellor for Financial Planning and Analysis Bianca Khanona, and Associate Vice Chancellor for Auxiliary Enterprises and Fiscal Innovation Adriana Rojas. See archived video and other resources (Single Sign-on required).
Apr. 10, 2024: Co-hosted by Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer Kurt Schnier and Associate Vice Chancellor for Financial Planning and Analysis Bianca Khanona. See archived video and other resources (Single Sign-on required).
Nov. 20, 2023: Co-hosted by interim Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer Kurt Schnier and Associate Vice Chancellor for Financial Planning and Analysis Bianca Khanona. See archived video and other resources (Single Sign-on required).
March 9, 2023: Co-hosted by interim Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer Kurt Schnier and Associate Vice Chancellor for Financial Planning and Analysis Bianca Khanona. See presentation slides (Single Sign-on required).
Oct. 26, 2022: Co-hosted by interim Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer Kurt Schnier and Associate Vice Chancellor for Financial Planning and Analysis Bianca Khanona. See presentation slides (Single Sign-on required).
July 25, 2022: Hosts: interim Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer Kurt Schnier and Associate Vice Chancellor for Financial Planning and Analysis Bianca Khanona. See presentation slides (Single Sign-on required).
March 2, 2022: Interim Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer Kurt Schnier hosted a virtual town hall to provide updates about the university's financial picture. See presentation slides and video:
Nov. 17, 2021: Interim Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer Kurt Schnier hosted a virtual town hall to update the university's financial picture. Here are its presentation slides and video:
April 30, 2021: Interim Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer Kurt Schnier hosted a virtual town hall to update the university's financial picture. Here are its presentation slides, answers to participants' questions, and video:
Feb. 12, 2021: Interim Chief Financial Officer Kurt Schnier hosted the virtual meeting, laying out the university’s financial situation and outlining paths to cost savings and revenue growth in the short and long term. Here are the town hall's presentation slides, questions and answers, and video:
Key takeaways from the town hall:
- Current measures are not sufficient to meet campus cost-saving targets
- Need to begin to plan for cost reductions in fiscal year 2021-22
- Cost saving measures that may be necessary:
- Continued reductions in non-salary expenditures
- Continued position control
- Revisitation of salary/time savings program
Dec. 5, 2020: The first Financial Responsibility Town Hall, hosted by Interim Chief Financial Officer Kurt Schnier and Associate Chancellor Luanna Putney, gave the campus community an opportunity to ask questions about fiscal steps taken and those that might be employed in the future. Here are the town hall's audio, presentation slides, questions and answers, and video:
Fiscal Responsibility Survey
On Dec. 7-10, 2020, an informal survey informal survey asked the campus community to weigh in some questions about fiscal responsibility and to offer their own ideas. There were 671 surveys completed.
One question was: What cost-saving measures are you taking? Answers included:
- Taking on extra/different work to reduce payroll expenses
- Boosting employee morale to prevent attrition.
Another question: What can the campus community do to save additional money? Among the answers:
- Hold units responsible for cost savings in visibly transparent ways
- Use fewer and less expensive consultants
Go here for more details about the survey results.
