When it comes to the University’s immensely complicated budget models, currently on the Reimagination assembly line, one point — and one point only — is crystal clear: a new budget model is a change that will affect everyone and everything on campus. Arguably the most important of the 20 reports, the Budget Model Task Force report was released on Jan. 19 with little fanfare and very few details.

The utterly confusing nature of the report is expected at this early stage, but as the process moves foward the tangible effects of moving to a single budget model must be communicated in simpler terms.

If the administration truly wants the Reimagining process to be an open one, it must make the proposed changes clear and accessible to students, faculty, staff — anyone and everyone with a stake in the University’s finances.

Conceptualization is a good first step, but implementation of the new model seems to be most of the battle. Logistical challenges await: how will the new budget model account for Cornell’s land-grant colleges? How will internal transfer credits affect the handouts coming from the Day Hall? Above all, which colleges and departments will be most affected? And how?

If, as administrators have suggested, the discussion will be ongoing until April, we hope to learn more about the tangible effects of the new model rather than Orwellian newspeak about the change. The writers of the report seem to have their buzzword guidebooks handy — reducing waste, “data-informed rather than data-driven,” “fiscal responsibility,” and of course, “based on transparency and accountability throughout the organization,” all sound like prudent guidelines. But interested observers — who should number more than the 60 attending yesterday’s public forum — must not let these sunny, progressive-sounding catchphrases obscure what will likely be a painful process for many employees, students and departments that are caught at the short end of the Reimagining stick. Projections, numbers and, most importantly, the effects of the proposed changes must be revealed as they are fleshed out in order for the process to be a truly transparent and accessible one.

It genuinely seems like the proposal for the new budget model, drafted by nine well-educated administrators with impressive titles, is a step forward for the University. But at the moment, we cannot be certain.