SDSU School of Public Health staff presents at this year’s CSU Academic Resources Conference

This past May, Erika Johnston, San Diego State University’s School of Public Health Administrative Coordinator, presented at the annual California State University Academic Resources Conference. Her presentation, titled “From Report to Report-Out: A Practical Guide to Budget Tracking, Reconciliation, and Presentation,” helped educate attendees on the importance of organized budgeting.

Johnston, alongside Briana Cartmill, the Administrative Analyst for SDSU’s College of Business, were two of just a handful of presenters selected for this year’s conference. Each year, the conference brings together CSU professionals in a variety of fields for skill-building and networking opportunities. This year’s virtual conference had more than 1,000 attendees.

Together, Johnston and Cartmill gave CSU administrative professionals a look into the School of Public Health’s budget tracking system. They provided a detailed rundown of the budgeting process and included resources for attendees to build their own budget tracking system.

“We wanted to give them the overall picture of why it’s important to be able to track your budgets and make sure that you are, basically, on track so you don’t overspend or go over budget,” Johnston said.

The need to stay within budget is especially important in the public health industry. Good budgeting, Johnston explained, is essential when facing budget cuts — a common issue in the public health industry.

In California, for example, the 2024 Budget Act decreased Future of Public Health funding by nearly 8%, according to the California Department of Public Health.

Being able to properly track and communicate a budget to public health professionals is one way to stay prepared for funding changes in the long term. Johnston and Cartmill spent a year building their budget process to do exactly that.

“Using the tools that we provided – with our budget tracking spreadsheet, the process of reconciliation, and the budget report – we wanted to show them that these will really help you keep track and stay on track,” Johnston said.

Their presentation has ultimately been met with high praise. The conference board asked Johnston and Cartmill to host additional training in the form of three in-depth sessions on budget tracking, reconciling, and reporting.