Learning Resources

Abstract: Institutions usually spend more on providing courses for some academic programs than others. Stakeholders need to decide where and how to allocate resources to support instruction. This session introduces recent best practices using the Delaware Cost Study data to facilitate 1) the identification of under-resourced academic programs and 2) decision making in faculty budgeting and staffing. You will leave this session ready to re-evaluate the metrics you use to support instructional budgeting decisions so you can identify under-resourced programs and accurately understand faculty hiring needs.

Abstract: Higher education building projects include complex programs, multiple stakeholders, and ambitious expectations that can make the projects go over budget, requiring re-design. We will share how we used transparent predictive cost analytics before and during the programming phase to help key stakeholders prioritize wants and needs, allowing for a successful design-to-budget project. You will learn how to implement a predictive approach that minimizes costly re-design due to budget overruns.

Abstract: Course schedules are often "rolled over" without understanding their impact on instructional budgets. Real-time scheduling and budget data allows for strategic decisions that balance student needs with institutional capacity. This session will demonstrate a process to develop a strategic scheduling and budget plan and make real-time, data-informed schedule adjustments that support institutional, departmental, and program budget goals. You will learn how to develop planning strategies that align scheduling with budget goals and how to make day-to-day decisions that maximize your ability to meet student needs.