On Nov. 1, John Adams, interim university budget director, accepted the position of full-time university budget director.

“I’m thrilled to be serving in this role,” Adams said.

Adams has worked for the UNC school system for 10 years, including time spent at UNC-Charlotte and App State.

Adams came to App State in April where he first served as the assistant budget director and most recently served as interim university budget director.

The university budget director manages the university’s $255 million general fund budget, which is provided by the state of North Carolina. The director also provides budget support to operations funded by the university like housing and athletics.

Funds given to the university can be of different “colors” Adams said, and each “color” has different spending guidelines.

“It’s not like all of our money goes into one bucket and we just spend out of that bucket,” Adams said. “Your state funds are in one pot, your trust funds are in another pot, grant funds go in another pot.”

Adams is also responsible for overseeing financial planning and analysis for the university. He said he wants to make his department more proactive in that area, so that it is not caught by surprise on any renovations or other projects that must take place.

“If we can look out into the future and be more prepared, we’ll be in a better position,” Adams said.

“One of the points of pride you can take away from serving in a role like this is that you’re tasked with being a good steward of not only taxpayer dollars or resources, but student dollars as well,” Adams said.

Adams said he believes he has a good perspective on how students want their money spent.

“I’m not so far removed from my time as a student that I can’t see things from a student’s perspective,” Adams said.

Story by Jackie Park

Photo by Jackie Park

Featured photo caption: John Adams named budget director for App State after working in the UNC system for 10 years.