SCUP
Learning Resources

Budget / Finance

Blog Post

6 Integrated Planning Strategies and Tips We Learned at SCUP 2023

 Every year at SCUP’s annual conference, over 1,000 of higher education’s leaders and innovators gather to share how they are advancing integrated planning at their college or university. Out of the wealth of tools, strategies, and tips shared at SCUP 2023, which took place earlier this month in Cleveland, here are six that stood out.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Academic Deans Reveal Their Leadership Styles

 Academic deans adopt one of three approaches when developing the annual budget report for their colleges: distributed authorship, delegated authorship, or dominated authorship. Depending on the approach they select, deans can include and collaborate with their senior teams—or exclude, ignore, and alienate them. Their choice demonstrates how they lead.
Conference Recordings

Addressing the Financial Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic

 Join us to discuss short-term, medium-term, and long-term approaches to retrenchment and find out which solutions can most benefit your institution in this time of financial uncertainty.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

An Assessment of Capital Budgeting Practices for Public Higher Education

 This study finds a need for new capital projects to include continuing, dedicated revenue streams for the project lifetime in order to avoid continuation of the current state of underfunded maintenance, especially in light of growing needs for upgraded research equipment and space.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Book Review: How University Budgets Work

 This book serves as a primer for establishing a baseline by which academic leaders can participate in conversations regarding finances at their institutions.
ebook

Collection: Linking Resource Allocation to Planning and Assessment

 Integrated planning is important, but it's not enough—plans must be linked to budgeting and assessment in order to create real change and progress. This collection of SCUP resources will help you learn how to link these three essential processes.
Webinar Recordings

Creating a More Adaptive Institution in the Wake of COVID-19

 This interactive panel discussion will bring together different institutions’ perspectives from facilities, technology, student services, and finance to understand the impact of COVID-19 on institutions and their student experience. The discussion will be organized in three parts, each with a prompt to inform the discussion, a poll to take the pulse of the audience, and an open discussion among panelists.
Conference Presentations

Data-Informed Faculty Staffing and Budgeting by Programs
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Employing College and University Credit Ratings as Indicators of Institutional Planning Effectiveness

 Credit ratings can be an integral component of the planning process, particularly as an implicit indicator of institutional planning effectiveness.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Engaging Faculty Senates in the Budget Planning Process

 The opinions of faculty may add to the development of productive strategies during tough economic times.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Fiscal Structure and Public College and University Credit Ratings

 By understanding how fiscal structure affects institutional credit ratings, leaders can better respond to today’s variable economic conditions.
ebook

Integrated Resource and Budget Planning at Colleges and Universities

 This book is the culmination of several years of discussions, face-to-face roundtables, conference calls, and virtual meetings by SCUP’s Resource & Budget Planning Advisory Group. Each chapter is a tool crafted by experienced, on-campus peer-practitioners.
Conference Presentations

Integrating Assessment, Strategic Planning, and Budgeting Processes in Higher Education
Conference Recordings

Pivot! Planning During a Pandemic and Staying on Course

 In this session, we'll share best practices and lessons learned in virtually adapting the cycle of planning and budgeting processes to an uncertain, volatile, and virtual environment.
Conference Presentations

Planning and Budget Alignment
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Planning at Mesa Community College

 Within the span of a year, it’s possible to make significant progress toward achieving and institutionalizing integrated planning and budgeting.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Prioritizing Campus Diversity Budgets

 Researchers learned that if diversity initiatives were a strategic priority for an institution, the 2020 financial crisis did little to reduce budget allocations.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Redesigning a Budget Model with a Grassroots Approach

 While redesigning a campus budget model could happen relatively quickly from a technical standpoint, time spent in extensive engagement, collaboration, and conversation is key to successful implementation.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

So, You Need a New Chart of Accounts

 Designing a new chart of accounts provides an opportunity to review and improve current practice and positively affect institutional financial data use and reporting.
Example Plans

Strategic Realignment of Resources Initiative

 Website for a resource alignment initiative aligned with the institution’s strategic plan.
Conference Presentations

Strategic Scheduling to Stay Within Budget
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Survival of the Financially Fittest

 Leaders must look closely at financial trends that may reveal signs of trouble—in the short or immediate term—and have the courage to act to address them.
Example Plans

The Tuskegee Trajectory

 The university’s strategic plan details five broad goals with supporting strategies and measures for success. Focus centers on student success and leveraging technology for the 21st-century learning experience.
Conference Recordings

You Can’t Cut Your Way to Financial Stability

 This session focuses on the unique financial challenges facing community colleges due to the pandemic.