The Revenue and Cost Allocation Model (RCAM) Project
PROJECT UPDATE: JULY 2022
We have made the decision to put RCAM on hiatus until FY24. In FY23, we will be focusing on streamlining budget processes, leveraging the benefits of the new chart of accounts data and reports, and acquiring a budget development and planning tool that will allow for improved analytics and financial transparency. These are important priorities for the Budget Office that will take concerted time, effort, and expertise.
This focus on efficiency and better tools to support budget planning will facilitate our ability to align costs with services used and enhance the redesign of the budget model.
We appreciate everyone’s work on RCAM up to this point. Your efforts will be the foundation of the revenue and cost allocation and budget model redesign process when we re-engage in FY24. We look forward to working with you on this important project again at that time.
Deb Dickenson
Interim Senior Vice President for Administration and Finance
Rene Stewart O’Neal
Associate Vice President for Strategic Budgeting & Planning
Project Background
George Mason University is modifying its Revenue and Cost Allocation Model (RCAM) because the current model:
- Includes incentives based almost entirely on enrollment, and thus works best only if schools are on a growth trajectory, which many will not be in the coming years
- Does not cover the full cost of central support services
- Does not allocate the cost of central support services to the schools based on actual usage, resulting in the inequity of schools paying as much as 52% or as little as 0% of revenues for those services
- Does not designate funds for strategic investments, hampering the ability to capitalize on opportunities to advance Mason’s overall mission
Overarching Goals
The RCAM project team seeks to develop, communicate, and deploy a revenue and cost allocation model that:
- Transparently and equitably distributes the cost of central services and functions to all service users based on use.
- Aligns with the COA redesign and that can eventually be supported by a new budget development and planning tool.
- Senior leadership, deans, and school finance staff can easily understand and support.