Radcliffe Revamps Budgetary Methods For More Efficiency

Radcliffe's budgetary methods are being completely revamped, J. Boyd Britten, administrative vice president, said Friday.

The major changes--reorganization of the comptroller's offices and the introduction of interim budget reports--will bring the college's financial procedures "from the quill-pen to the IBM," Britten said.

In the past Radcliffe compiled only one budget report annually and it was published ten months after the end of the fiscal year. Consequently department heads could not know whether their departments were running in the black, Britten explained. Beginning this fall, Radcliffe has kept a monthly tab on expenditures by computer, and immediately relays the results to department heads.

Britten predicted that the change would promote more efficient use of funds. "We're going to start running it like the business it is," he said.

This year Radcliffe has also published its annual budget report five months ahead of schedule--in October instead of April. The alternative budget is ordinarily drawn up in February and finalized in April, to go into effect in June.

There have been extensive changes in personnel and machinery in the comptroller's office. These include a new comptroller and the use of IBM computers to do accounting.

Doubled Budget

Radcliffes budget has also doubled in the last ten years, from three million dollars in 1957 to six million dollars in 1967. "The problem had doubled but the methods hadn't changed," Britten said, explaining the reorganization.

A large proportion of the budget is spent on maintenance of the physical plant. Wages and salary scales, which, according to Britten, had been "miserable," have also gone up in the years since Mary I. Bunting was appointed president.

In The Black

Last year Radcliffe managed to stay n the black, chiefly because of the increased level of gifts. The college's $25 million endowment does not generate enough income to cover annual expenses. The college therefore has to count on its fund raising efforts to meet the bill.

Radcliffe has slipped into the red several times in the last few years and has had to eat into its capital. Britten said this was not unusual. "Most colleges are facing this kind of problem," he said. "And Radcliffe is better off than most. We are not worried."