Learning Resources

Abstract: The study presented in this article investigated the state of the diversity budget at the nation’s flagship institutions during an economic recession. The sample included higher education administrators who oversaw a diversity budget at their respective institution and who were familiar with the state of budget cuts. Results indicate that 53 percent (17) of diversity units have experienced some type of cut in their operating budget. While many experienced some form of budget cut, when compared with other areas within the institution, the amount of the cut in diversity areas was not as significant as that in other areas.

Abstract: This article surveys the impact of state oversight and fiscal policy on universities’ revenue structures with special attention to tuition and state appropriations. It highlights the difficulties that arise for financial planners who face increasing state oversight, diminishing state support, and significant reliance on increases in tuition and fees. It also considers the impacts of restrictive state fiscal policies on financial planning. The author suggests that as institutional planners seek out the factors affecting revenues, it is sensible for them to consider the consequences of state oversight and state fiscal policy in their assessment of the internal and external fiscal environments.

Abstract: Looking for tools to help make your next planning or campus project easier? SCUP’s Resource & Budget Planning Advisory Group generated practical analyses of and insights toward tools and processes that can help you today and with projects to come. Integrated Resource and Budget Planning at Colleges and Universities is the culmination of several years of discussions, face-to-face roundtables, conference calls, and virtual meetings. There is a bit of opinion and some original research, but this publication is mostly very practical descriptions, analysis, and insights into tools and processes. We hope you find it to be informative, interesting, and useful. Each chapter will give you a tool that was crafted by experienced, on-campus peer-practitioners.

Abstract: Private higher education institutions are those entities owned and operated by the private sector, while public institutions are those established, supported, and controlled by a governmental agency, most often a state. Key differences exist between private and public institutions that affect budgeting in critical ways. Such differences include governance, governmental support, student tuition and fees, student financial aid, constituent support, and accounting regulations.However, when all is said and done, both public and private institutions must be careful to fulfill their fiduciary responsibilities because higher education overall is essential to the public interest.

Abstract: Before the recession, planning offices were the workhorses supporting institutional growth strategies by translating the ambitions of senior administrators into action. However, the recession derailed many institutional ambitions; austerity suddenly supplanted growth. The future role of planners seems uncertain beyond operationalizing short-term damage control. Yet this article asserts that planners are uniquely positioned to assume an essential role in colleges and universities: sensemakers and sensegivers. Through sensemaking and sensegiving, planners can focus institutional dialogue on the meaning of austerity. Instead of accepting resource constraints as a ubiquitous rationale for retrenchment, planners can guide institutional dialogue toward acknowledging that new constraints merely discipline earlier ambitions within new parameters.

Abstract: Colleges and universities continue to face significant fiscal challenges in the current recession. In response, institutions have identified innovative facilities planning and management strategies that support institutional growth and, in some cases, institutional survival. Strategies explored include deferring capital expenditures and reducing facilities operating costs, increasing facilities utilization, investing in campus sustainability, adapting to information technology, and leveraging the distressed real estate market. The current financial climate has only added urgency to the trend already underway to explore alternative campus development approaches. Indeed, the expectation should be that even more institutions will embrace these innovations and that these new strategies will become institutionalized as an expanded set of campus development planning tools.

Abstract: This article explains the cost of education in public research universities. “Price,” meaning “tuition,” is often incorrectly substituted for “cost,” meaning expenditures by the university that make the education possible. University cost is disaggregated to enable readers to distinguish between the costs associated with providing education to students and the costs of other non-educational activities that tend to produce their own revenue. While tuition has increased rapidly, real cost per student for providing education has been roughly constant for nearly 20 years. Increased revenue from tuition has been almost precisely offset by reduced revenue from state appropriations.

Abstract: This article reviews current planning efforts regarding the use of2009 federal stimulus dollars in higher education and focuses on identifying best practices.It takes the approach that“best practice” should be defined by criteria outside current planning efforts and suggests that desired outcome, process, and maintenance of key relationships are the appropriate criteria. The article also describes general current practice based on a survey of planning likelihoods and analyzes the planning practices reported against the identified external criteria.

Abstract: As Mongolia progresses through major economic, political, and social transitions, the higher education sector has had to react to rapidly changing conditions. The paper explores several of the major issues that were addressed and describes the lessons learned from attempts to employ strategic planning at various levels.