THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA

Guidelines for Submitting

Capital Budget Requests

OVERVIEW

Yearly capital budgeting is essential for planninglong-term capital improvements. Long-term planning identifies financial resources and manpower requirements in a logical and coordinated fashion. Each Vice President/Provost as well asTechnology Services, Housing, and Facilities are requested to provide a detailed three-year capital planby completing the Capital Request Form. Before beginning the Capital Request Form, each area should review the Capital Budget Policy, which contains requirements that must be met before a project can be included on the request form.

Capital requests include physical assets or technology over $5,000 that has a useful life of greater than one year, including: new buildings; building improvements; system infrastructures (such as security, fire prevention, utilities); new and replacement machinery and equipment; major upgrades or repairs; technology; and vehicles.

GUIDELINES

The following guidelines are provided to assist you in preparing the Capital Request form:

  1. Requestor: A drop-down list is provided, click on the drop-down arrow and select the appropriate requestor, either the Vice President or Provost responsible for your respective department/school.
  1. Fiscal Year: Because a three-year plan is being submitted, please select the appropriate fiscal year (FY2018, FY2019 or FY2020) from the drop-down menu for the project being listed. If it is a multi-year project, please list the first year.
  1. Funding Source: As noted in the Capital Budget Policy, projects without funding should not be submitted. Indicate the fund and organization number supporting the capital request.
  1. Priority: Rank the priority of the project between 1 to 5 (“1” being High and “5” being Low). A drop-down list is provided, click on the drop-down arrow and select the appropriate priority level.
  • 1 = High
  • 2 = Slightly High
  • 3 = Neutral
  • 4 = Slightly Low
  • 5 = Low
  1. Supports/Description of the Project: A drop-down list is provided. Indicate which of the following fiveareas the project supports. Provide a detailed description of the capital request or project.
  • Accreditation – Fulfills a need identified through a prior accreditation study or to prepare for an upcoming study. Please note the specific need and study in the Objective/Impact section of the form.
  • Example: Updating a laboratory to meet a recommendation in the School’s 2011 Accreditation Study
  • Deferred Maintenance – Maintenance, upgrades or repairs needed due to the passage of time.
  • Examples: Repairs to parking lots and building roofs; Purchase new server to support IT infrastructure
  • Master/Strategic Plan – Funding used to partially or fully address anitem in the Campus Master Plan or Strategic Plan. Please identify the specific Master Plan item in the Objective/Impact section of the form.
  • Example: Create a parking lot on West Campus
  • Safety – Provides additional protection for students, faculty or staff.
  • Example: Update the fire protection system in a residence hall
  1. Multi-Year Project: Identify if the project will take longer than one year.
  1. Estimated Cost: Provide estimated project cost for each fiscal year. General guidance on cost will either be provided by Facilities or Technology Services during the vetting process as described in the Capital Budget Policy, or, if they have no estimate, should be left blank. Formal cost estimates will be prepared when the project is approved.
  1. Objective/Impact: Provide a specific objective for the project. What is the purpose of the project? What will it accomplish? If the request supports the Master Plan or Accreditation, please note the specific requirement or item that the project supports.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

  • It is important to identify and accurately record capital expenditures in order to determine depreciation expenses in compliance with the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and audit standards.
  • The items listed from each Vice President/Provost should be in addition to the items listed in the integrated Facilities plan.
  • To obtain the Capital Budget Requests Form or if you have any questions, please visit the Budget Office homepage.

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