This innovation meets the vision and mission of the Maricopa Community College District indirectly by providing an effective and efficient process for allocation of financial and capital resources to support innovative, student-centered, flexible and lifelong educational opportunities. If awarded the Paul M. Pair Innovation Award, GateWay will further develop, refine, and upgrade the current system as well as assist in implementing the system within all colleges in the Maricopa County Community College District. Once a bundle of forms, set of instructions, packet of calendars, requiring numerous signatures and resulting in lost pages and anxiety attacks, the budget process has evolved from an all-paper process to floppy disk and most recently to web technology. Utilizing the web as a standard means of communication and central location for information, all necessary items required for the budget process from forms needed to complete a budget request to finalizing the college s budget are available at the click of a mouse rather than lost on someone s desk. What is required, where to look for further information, and how to complete each action is provided on all of the above web pages.
All pages are user friendly and make budget building an easy task.
Checks and balances are built into the pages to assist users in submitting accurate and complete forms. Verifications and notices are sent electronically to the appropriate people to ensure fast, effective, and efficient turnaround for requests. The online budget system reduces printer, paper, and disk cost and creates a more efficient and effective use of employee time. Salary and benefit tables have been imbedded into the system allowing users to quickly and accurately calculate the cost of new positions being considered. The online budget process saves countless hours of time and paperwork for budget managers and others who use the system allowing these individuals to dedicate their time to more strategic activities such as planning, teaching, problem solving, and process implementation.