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Background on the Simplified Operating Funds Initiative (SOFI) and links to UC systemwide and State of California budget information.
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Simplified Operating Funds Initiative (SOFI)
About SOFI
The Simplified Operating Funds Initiative reduces complexity in managing the campus's unrestricted resources. It supports Goal 5 of the campus Strategic Plan — creating an agile, sustainable, and supportive infrastructure through a dedication to service, people, and financial stewardship — and focuses on the funding that supports core academic investment and general institutional operations. That funding comes from two sources:
- UC systemwide funding — State general funds, systemwide tuition and fees, and University general funds.
- UC San Diego-generated unrestricted funding — non-State research and administrative overhead, unobligated patent income, and investment income.
Before FY2016–17, these resources — roughly $1 billion in unrestricted funds — were managed across more than 60 separate funds.
Scope
SOFI pools those funds into two central funds: the University Core Fund (13991) and the Campus Core Fund (13992). Pooling frees staff from administering many “colors of money” and makes expenditures easier to manage.
SOFI is only a pooling of similar funds. It does not reduce budgets, change budget decisions, or change allocation methodologies.
SOFI excludes funds with externally imposed restrictions — contracts and grants, clinical trials, private gifts, and endowment earnings — as well as the Health System, auxiliaries, and self-supporting programs.
How SOFI streamlines financial management:
- Each department receives one core fund.
- Sharing the same core fund eases transfers between departments and across VC units.
- One fund eliminates juggling personnel among funds to manage compensation inflation.
- Constraints tied to specific sources don't apply to the new core fund numbers; fund restrictions and constraints are managed centrally through account codes and other tools.
SOFI Documents
- SOFI Presentation to Financial Contacts (PDF)
- SOFI Presentation (YouTube)
- List of Funds (PDF) — legacy funds included in 13991 and 13992
- High-Level Project Timeline (PDF)
- Guiding Principles for SOFI Financial Stewardship (PDF)
- SOFI Implementation Team (PDF)
- Guidance on Using SOFI Funds to Clear Deficits (PDF)
Systemwide and State Budget Information
UC San Diego's budget sits inside the University of California budget, which in turn depends on the State of California's. These sources cover both levels.
University of California
The UC budget is developed by the Office of the President and approved by the Regents.
- UCOP Budget Office — the systemwide budget as submitted to the state each year
- Regents meeting schedule and agendas — where the budget is discussed and approved
State of California
The state budget is proposed by the Governor and enacted by the Legislature.
- California Budget (ebudget.ca.gov) — the current proposed and enacted state budget
- Historical budget publications — prior-year state budgets from the Department of Finance