Socialization of the budget structure

The meeting began with a detailed presentation by Dr. Myriam Lucía Sánchez Gutiérrez, Vice-Rector for Administration and Finance, who highlighted that, for the preparation of this budget, aspects such as the following were taken into account: methodology and general parameters for the preparation of the 2023 budget, income, expenses, the annual operating plan for investments and special funds.

To accomplish this important task, according to Dr. Myriam Lucía, “it was necessary to establish guidelines, after receiving planning approval. Then, we provided support for the budget preparation catalog, tailored to the needs. From there, we moved on to projecting those needs, with the necessary adjustments. Afterward, a schedule was structured for each investment project with the different departments based on their needs, and then they were informed of the priorities.”.

From there, it was reviewed by the board of directors before being sent to the academic and higher council for approval. Once this final phase was completed, the budget settlement resolution was drafted and uploaded to the system so that, starting January 2, 2023, requests for budget availability certificates (CDP) could be issued.

Thus, for the criteria used to estimate spending, the variable of the value executed in 2022 plus the corresponding increase was used. “Then, a projection was made, taking into account the last three and five years. The salary increase plus the CPI, the number of personnel required in each of the offices, the operation of the branches and headquarters, the minimum wage and the salaries of public servants, among other indicators, were also considered.”.

For her part, Dr. Aida Lucía Toro Ramírez, Director of Institutional Planning, who provided an estimate of the university's general budget revenues, explained that the sources include 29.78 billion pesos in internal funds. “In addition, we have the allocations from Law 30, Article 86, totaling 38.167 billion pesos; from Law 30, Article 87, 1.844 billion pesos; from VAT refunds, 2.714 billion pesos; from election refunds, 1.459 billion pesos; from Law 30, Article 86, Institutional Development Plan, the figure is 2.65 billion pesos; and from the higher education access and retention program, 2.326 billion pesos.”.

Contributions from the department, 42,153 million pesos; from the ProUdeC stamp, 2,297 million pesos; from the state stamp, 2,102 million pesos; from financial returns, 1,081 million pesos and from the balance resource that has a specific destination for the second phase of Zipaquirá are 7,000 million pesos, for a total income for 2023 of: $133,578,918,177”.

She also conducted a detailed analysis of expenses based on personnel categories, contributions related to the permanent payroll, contributions related to temporary staff, operating expenses, and transfers to funds. "This totals 1,413,909,645,121," the senior official stated.

He also analyzed the two types of investment that UCundinamarca will make. “We have the mission-related investment with an expenditure of 8.443 billion pesos and the institutional investment, with 11.126 billion pesos, for a total of 19.669 billion pesos for 2023.”.

According to Dr. Aida Lucía Toro, investments that promote academic activity have been prioritized for the coming year. “Of particular note are those related to academic practice, where investments were made in transportation, tolls, and parking for faculty and students when they need to travel.”.

As a new development, the official made an important announcement, stating that the main campuses and branches will be given greater autonomy in managing their resources according to their needs. “The goal is for them not to have to depend on Fusagasugá for this process. Now they only need to keep in mind all the current regulations for carrying out these processes.”.

In addition, he provided an explanation of the life cycles for managing investment projects at UCundinamarca and assured that "from my office, a weekly follow-up is carried out on them, so that, in this way, the risks can be visualized and thus, a mitigation strategy can be established.".

To conclude his presentation, he highlighted in this work the coordination that existed with the Administrative Vice-Rector's Office and other instances of the university's senior management, in order to achieve an efficient and effective execution of resources to take UCundinamarca towards Institutional Accreditation.

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