The realities of current fiscal environments faced by most public higher education institutions, budgeting problems, and three appropriate roles that institutional researchers can perform while assisting campus budget and academic staff compete for resources are discussed. Several major themes that flow through the budgeting process concern: incrementalism, politics, and technocracy. Three roles for institutional research are: (1) establishing and maintaining multipurpose data bases for budget articulation and defense, (2) providing leadership and counsel for state-level special issues analyses, and (3) providing technical support and guidance in the development of a resource allocation formula. In the process of performing these three roles, institutional researchers can play a vital role in interjecting performance analysis into the budgeting process. (SW)