Valley Scholars Program: Budget Narrative

Valley Scholars Program Budget Narrative

Attached in the excel document is the budget for the James Madison University Valley Scholars program (VS). Since the grants the program is applying for are general funding grants, this budget reflects the overall cost of the program for an entire year. That being said, some interesting pieces in the budget because of the program’s situation as part of James Madison University, the expansion of the program, and young age of the program. In many ways this budget is preliminary. When the program was designed, there was a general thought to how much the program would cost, but in its second year, the costs are more descriptive of future costs. Because of this reason, the Valley Scholars program has certain

Federal and state law require a number of these benefits including: FICA, social security, and various insurance costs. Much of the budget is consumed by the Medical/Hospital Insurance, with spending at $11,670. FICA, a 7.65% wage tax for employees, makes up $2,083 of the budget. Furthermore, group life insurance ($669) and VSDB & Long-Term Disability Insurance ($371) make up $1,040 of the budget. The remaining funds are budgeted for Employer Retirement Contribution ($7,989), Social Security- salary( $4,298), Social Security- Merit/Bonus ($232), Retirees Health Care ($590), Merit Funding Admin ($936), and lastly, Deferred Compensation Match Payments ($480). Generally, these costs make up the insurance, social security, and benefit plans acquired by the

General office funds are inclusive of things such as staplers, pencil sharpeners, copy paper, and the like. Similarly, premiums are the items provided to students; these include: t-shirts, drawstring bags, etc. The remaining $1,386 allotted to supplies, is made up of postal supplies ($74), telecom services ($75), inbound freight ($27), charge card purchases ($338), stationary ($58), laboratory supplies ($414), personal care products ($13), recreational supplies ($16), network components ($40), office incidentals and improvements ($118 and $159), apparel ($45), and food service ($10). While some supply requirements are easily understood, others are worthy of explanations. When referring to telecom services, the budget is allocated for the expenses related to communications. Likewise, network components refer to the necessary cords and technological equipment needed to ensure internet connection. Laboratory supplies is an example of specified program day supplies. Supplies deemed necessary for specific programming days fall into this category. As previously mentioned, the budget is representative of the current number of students enrolled in the program; therefore, when the enrollment numbers increase, the allocation of money for supplies will possibly