Learning Resources

Abstract: Book Review: The Tax Law of Colleges and Universities, by Bertrand Hardind Jr. John Wiley & Sons, 1997. 384 pages. ISBN 0-471-15939-5.

Abstract: For too long, the authors contend, endowment management strategies have not been linked with overall financial management at most colleges and universities. Advocates a comprehensive, objective approach to financial planning and management which does not separate investment management from the other financial management operations of the institution. Discusses potential goals for design and implementation of integrated strategic financial planning and investing, including a five-step process for investment management.

Abstract: Book review: Beyond Fund Raising: New Strategies for Nonprofit Innovation and Investment, by Kay Sprinkel Grace, John Wiley & Sons, 1997. 288 pages. ISBN 0-47-16232-9.

Abstract: Subtitles: Response to the cuts; Thinking anew; The knell and the new. Pull quotes: "Prospects for a return to robust state appropriations seem dim." "What formula should states use to fund their public institutions?" "Each institution would thus have different cost bases." "The time for across-the-board tuitions caps may have passed." "Tuitions in the state should be more variegated, not uniform as they are today."

Abstract: The process of devising a financial strategy to enhance its academic distinction began at Rutgers, a large, public, research university, in 1980 with a not uncommon statement of the Rutgers Board of Governors that sounded like many other mission statements. It used the expected phrases: continue development as a national and international resource by improving quality of instruction, research, and service; increase emphasis on scholarship; expand graduate and research areas of excellence; enhance programs to serve society's needs for broadly educated, humane, competent professionals to serve New Jersey's needs in education, business and industry, public policy studies, government, and other areas. But the Rutgers board did not see the statement as a platitudinous expression to be said and forgotten, and called upon the University administration to implement the statement with all due speed. What follows is the story of its implementation and the results of that action.

Abstract: Allocation of a lump sum appropriation among seven colleges and universities in a single system, according to the authors, can often be a source of wide dissension. In the following article, which was presented at the SCUP 11 Conference in July, Messrs. Holmer and Bloomfield point out that the institutionsof the State of Oregon have achieved consensus on a budget allocation model that rests on recent advances in cost analysis. The model would allocate funds for instruction on an IEP-type base: equal for each major discipline and by level of instruction. Staffing standards for each level of instruction in each discipline have been derived from an exchange of such data among members of the Association of American universities. The claimed virtues of the model lie in its adherence to three premises: 1) equal pay for equal work (by discipline and level of instruction); 2) the use of external standards as a basis for funding the instruction function; and 3) insistence that institutions be free to reallocate allocated funds in accordance with institutional priorities rather than an externally-derived average. Freeman Holmer is Vice Chancellor for Administration of the Oregon Department of Higher Education. Stefan D. Bloomfield is Assistant Director of Planning and Institutional Research at Oregon State University.